IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

Media Relationships

EPR-Public CommunicationsL-012

IAEA

Objective

• An overview of how various media work and how to identify key media;

• Establishing and maintaining working relationships with the media.

IAEA

Outline

• Overview;• Key media for radiation emergencies;• Establishing relationships.

IAEA

Overview

• Mass media can be a useful channel to communicate emergency related information;

• Media do not just transmit information; they determine what will be reported according to their agenda;

• Media act as the voice of the public—raising concerns in the public interest;

• In the initial stages of the emergency, media tend to report factually with information provided;

• At some point, however, usually once the urgent phase has passed, media will begin to question why the situation occurred and who may have been responsible;

• They may also criticize the response itself, if there are any delays with providing information or action to protect the public.

IAEA

Overview – Continued

• Mass media:• Print media—daily and weekly newspapers, specialty

publications, and magazines;• Electronic media—radio, television, Internet;• Newswire services.

• The news cycle:• Increasingly 24/7 for all media types;• Most major daily newspapers have online editions that

are updated regularly.• New media—blogs, social networking sites, Twitter,

etc.

IAEA

Overview – Continued

• Characteristics to consider:• Print Media

• More details and analysis reported;• Historical information;• Editorial opinion;• More time for research;• In depth features (magazines and specialty reporters).

• Electronic media:• Immediacy;• Short reports;• Visually driven;• Constant updates—especially radio and cable TV (national and

international);• Live interviews .

IAEA

Overview – Continued

• The more significant the event, the more constant the news coverage;

• During an emergency, media will fill a vacuum with whatever information they can get from any source, regardless of credibility;

• Response organizations must inform media as soon as possible what their role is in an emergency, even if information about the situation is incomplete;

• Must offer regular updates to meet the demands of the “news cycle”, even if there are no new developments.

IAEA

Key media for radiation emergencies

• Identifying key media should be part of planning in preparation for a radiation emergency;

• Consider likely emergency scenarios, based on where radiation is used:• Nuclear power plant;• Medical use (teletherapy or sealed sources);• Industrial use (construction, irradiation facilities, milling,

etc);• Transboundary release.

• Consider the likely affected audience and also the “reach” of the media available.

IAEA

Key media for radiation emergencies

• Special relationships with the media—include them into emergency planning;

• Determine the audiences of particular media and their preferences—plan to use the most effective outlets during an emergency;

• Be aware of the impact of social networking tools—particularly for issuing warnings;

• Be prepared for different demands and interests of local, regional, national and international media;

IAEA

Establishing relationships

• Media will turn to those organizations that they know and trust;

• Important to have well established relationships with media in advance;

• Make sure you have their contact information and they have yours;

• Establish priorities for those media that will be the most effective during an emergency.

IAEA

Establishing relationships

• Proactive media relations:• Meet with reporters or editors;• Include in emergency exercises;• Pitch stories;• Periodic updates about your organization or

activities;• Effective spokespersons.

• Listserv where media can get new information on topics they are interested in.

IAEA

Establishing relationships

• High turnover in media;• New media –blogs;• Interest groups;• Social networking sites.

IAEA

Establishing relationships

• Maintain these relationships in an emergency by planning for media needs:• Broadcast quality footage;• Print quality photos;• Maps and technical illustrations;• Quick facts for media;• Contact lists and out-of-hours numbers.

IAEA

Media monitoring

• PIOs should be aware of what other sources are saying about the emergency:• These sources may have valuable information

that may be fed back into to the response organization;

• They may be reporting inaccurately;• Response organizations needs to avoid creating

a credibility gap, where other sources are providing new information.

IAEA

Media monitoring

• Analyze media coverage for trends and perspective on the emergency as it unfolds;

• Media analysis can also be used to evaluate public communications activities as part of a lessons learned review.

IAEA

Summary

• Identify media who will be most important to the emergency response;

• Establish positive relations with the media through proactive media relations;

• Cultivate effective spokespersons who are knowledgeable and trained in risk communications principles.

IAEA

Summary

• Develop plans and arrangements to monitor media and analyze reporting trends during an emergency.