Administrative Issues inOutbreak Investigations:

Working with the Media

OR . . .

How to OptimizeYour 15 Minutes of Fame

M. Joan Mallick, R.N., Ph.D.M. Joan Mallick, R.N., Ph.D.

Part B

Working with the MediaWorking with the Media

during anduring an

Outbreak InvestigationOutbreak Investigation

Introduction Current discussions about relationships between

health departments and the media seem to focus on the issue of strategizing how to communicate during emergency situations The term stratagem is defined as “an artifice or trick in

war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy” (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary Online, http://www.m-w.com/cgi-in/dictionary?va=stratagem, 2002)

This represents a very negative approach and is more likely to result in poor interagency relationships and negative media coverage

Introduction The most productive approach to working with the

media during any situation is to consider them as allies who can perform various assistive activities during an outbreak investigation including alerting exposed persons who may not know an

investigation is taking place advising the population of the measures that are

being taken to determine the causes of an outbreak and their elimination

explaining the risk of exposure to the general population after the initial outbreak

Purpose The purpose of this course is to provide ideas

about how to work with media during emergency situations so that the goals of both institutions are met

The ideas come from practical experience interviews with a

local television anchor person partner in a public relations firm who has

worked with organizations experiencing health emergencies

Objectives At the completion of this course the reader

should be able to describe current methods used by media to collect information

for stories ways to provide media access to information based on

the needs of all organizations, including those being investigated

public relations advice for organizations being investigated

actions that diminish the credibility of health department information

counterproductive methods of restricting access

Scenario 1

One Sunday morning I woke up to banner headlines that read something like this

Hundreds Sick After Attending Conference Banquet

No one from the health department had been No one from the health department had been advised of the incident by convention advised of the incident by convention attendees, EMS, or local emergency room attendees, EMS, or local emergency room staffstaff

We learned of the incident from the We learned of the incident from the press that had issued an important press that had issued an important public health alertpublic health alert

We also learned from the press that no one had been critically ill no one had been hospitalized people had been transported by the city’s EMS they were taken to three different hospitals Since it was the closing banquet of the

convention, most people had left the city to return to their homes, all around the US, including Puerto Rico

We knew from these reports that the We knew from these reports that the investigation would take an extended investigation would take an extended period of time because the exposed group period of time because the exposed group was so scattered. In terms of the media was so scattered. In terms of the media this meant that we were in a yin and yang this meant that we were in a yin and yang situation:situation:

Extended

media

interest

More timeto

explainthe

situation

We also knew that we had a bigWe also knew that we had a big

Credibility ProblemCredibility Problem

Because we had generally good relations with the media, the health department’s basic credibility was not in question

However, the city owned the banquet center & city council served as the local Board of Health

City Hall

ConventionCenter

HealthDepartment

There were grave doubts that one There were grave doubts that one city department would carefully city department would carefully investigate and/or report on investigate and/or report on problems in another departmentproblems in another department

How to Maximize Our Media Opportunities

Our choices and possible consequences

keep the media out raises doubts that investigation will be thorough encourages media to meet with “experts” for

speculative opinions made it difficult to prevent disgruntled

employees from taking advantage of the situation to undermine the departments

encourages aggressive searches for secrets

Choices & Consequences allow them in but restrict time and place

access has many of the same disadvantages of complete restriction

makes concerns about what is not being revealed as important as what is being revealed

encourages clandestine media research

Choices and ConsequencesAllow access to various investigative

activities Builds a trusting relationship between

organizations Allows fuller understanding by the media of the

complexity of the process and uncertainty of the outcome

The role of outside experts becomes one of commenting on whether media staff have interpreted information correctly

Providing Access We chose to allow a newspaper

science reported to follow staff as they developed interview protocols, interviewed exposed persons, and analyzed data

Establishing the Ground Rules Ground rules for access were established as

follows All personal information was to remain confidential

personal information would be restricted to the extent possible

names would be masked when the reporter was reading interview response forms

if the reporter overhead a name while listening to an interview (after informed consent of the interviewee), it was to remain confidential

the reporter was not allowed to contact interviewees based on knowledge of their name or location

Ground Rules Staff outside the immediate investigation staff would be

accessible, but the observer should clear the interview with the administration first medical staff who might not be directly involved

should be made available to the observer to clear up medical details

The observer and administrator should meet at the beginning and end of each day to review planned events to provide an opportunity to discuss and clarify

observations

The Outcome

Our experience with the newspaper was a positive one. The stories were detailed and provided a more serious approach to our work. What started out as a sensational story became one that informed the public not only of the details of the investigation but of the nature of public health investigations

Scenario 2

At about 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call from a pediatrician in a local emergency room. She said that for the second day in a row, students from a middle school were in the ER with complaints of nausea, headaches and lethargy. She realized the school had not called the health department the day before as they had said they would. By this time the media had also been notified

The Media Issues

This situation raised the issue of who communicated with the media the school system interpreted communicating

with the media as controlling the media they wanted to limit access almost completely they wanted to control all information that the

media received the health department, having had good

outcomes previously was less concerned about providing the media access to information

Health department staff controlled the Health department staff controlled the information by virtue of the fact that they information by virtue of the fact that they were uncovering the details of the cause ot were uncovering the details of the cause ot the outbreak. Therefore, we could have the outbreak. Therefore, we could have mandated that information come from them mandated that information come from them and not the school board. Would it have and not the school board. Would it have been wise to do so?been wise to do so?

Sounds Like Good Advice

An Ohio public relations firm An Ohio public relations firm specializes in working with specializes in working with companies and organizations that companies and organizations that are experiencing emergencies that are experiencing emergencies that affect the well being of affect the well being of its employeesits employees its customersits customers its “neighbors”its “neighbors”

Sounds Like Good Advice

It gives a three part piece of advice that should guide all public relations activities in communicating bad news

Tell it first – Tell it first – Tell it all -- Tell the truthTell it all -- Tell the truth

The school system had already ignored most of this common sense advice The health department and the media had

not learned of the problem from them first the media had learned the second day

because the students were sent to the ER on a school bus

Our Dilemma? Did we want to be Jiminy Cricket or Pinocchio?

Our Strategy

The school system was as reluctant to provide us information after the incidents were reported as they were to report the incidents in the first place

Struggling over access to the media would provide another source of tension between the two agencies

We decided to allow the school system to determine how the media would be informed

The Results As we surveyed the school environment,

discussed investigation methods, and/or traveled to and from investigation sites, all media eyes were upon us

We saw pictures on television and in the news that were taken through windows of the school

School employees and families became a primary source of media information about what may have happened and why

Teachers and staff, some still angry over previous contract negotiations with the school board, took the opportunity to become anonymous news sources

As the media story of the event continued the news was all bad

School administrators eventually recognized the importance of regular communication with the media

!

Revised Approach

Though not directly intended as such the final method for working with the media turned out to be quite clever

The school board hired a consultant whose job was described as to conduct an independent investigation and report to the board, the parents, and the media

The consultant realized he would be duplicating health department efforts by conducting his own investigation He routinely consulted with health

department administrators for information updating the investigation

He saw his role primarily as convincing the media that the whole truth and nothing but the truth was hereafter being told he realized the importance not only of

describing the findings but describing the process

The consultant’s resources (= large consulting fee) allowed him to develop fancy audio visual presentations for press conferences and parent meetings

His polished approach presenting public health information assured everyone that progress was being made

He was also able to present remedial actions in a positive light and defuse the hostility associated with the problems that caused the outbreak

The health department staff were relieved of the stresses of quickly solving the

mystery of the outbreak convincing the media of

its own veracity struggling with the

school board over “media rights”

speaking for the school system

Staff were disappointed that they were not give credit for solving the outbreak mystery

However, administratively, the trade-off was well worth the sacrifice

Encouraging use of media consultants appears to be a good piece of advice for use by health department administrators

Epilogue—A Personal Note I hope you enjoyed these stories and

gained some insight into techniques to improve the integration of investigative efforts and media relations

Questions about the technical aspects of the investigations or the findings may be directed to me through the Supercourse evaluation forms online

Joan Mallick