IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency Media Relationships EPR-Public Communications L-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.