In a in a previous lifetime I worked for an emergency services organisation & was amazed the reporting of the incidents that I actually attended. Earlier in the time, in my opinion, >75% of the time about the only thing that the incident and the report had in common was the photograph and frequently that even misconstrued the true nature of the actual occurrence.
The above situation was improved by the use of a previously nominated official media representative who was able to supply a usable account while knowing how the media chain that followed would use the information.
Perhaps in this case a functional alternative would be for the Club involved to email a simple reasoned account immediately to the predetermined address list for editors of the local news outlets. I appreciate that in the heat of the moment this is a very tall order but perhaps for the sake of the sport it should be given a greater priority and put on the existing emergency actions list. The afforementioned emergency services organisation eventually found that it fared far better by dealing with the press & not ignoring them.
By relating the account in writing it is possible to clearly state the current understanding of facts of the issue, the limitations in the understanding and the need for accurate and speculation free reporting. This way it is possible to check & correct the text prior to transmission according to a GFA checklist, possibly use some 'legal safe' boilerplate, thus assisting in overcoming the difficulties in dealing with a highly emotional incident.
The media gets a clear and concise quote to report lacking in speculation and sensationalism ( oh well that buggers it ;-)
Cheers
Don
Kittel, Stephen W (ETSA) wrote:
In addition to what Mark said below. Way back when I did my instructors course, one of the staff instructors was a chap called Paul Bruer (Sp?). One of the things which we touched on was media handling after accidents. As an Advertiser (SA newspaper) employee, those were in fact his recommendations. Someone from the club should talk to the media and tell them the bleedin' obvious (but no speculation).
A single point GFA type contact really won't work. Given the opportunity to contact a distant and possibly not easy to access "official" account and just asking any old Joe who was nearby, I think I know which course the majority of media will take. Hence the diverse range of opinions reported re Gympie. The only way to reduce this is to make the information available to the media easy to get and _apparently_ substantial. In any case the media will still publish eyewitness "I was horrified when I saw..." stories. It's the column inches (or broadcast minutes) that they need to fill up.
Regards SWK
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mark
> Newton
> Sent: Friday, 22 April 2005 9:50
> To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.
> Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Accident news reports
>
>
> Peter Creswick wrote:
>
> > Two, create a SINGLE MEDIA LIAISON point, ie, a "GFA Media Liaison
> > Officer", if you will, ie, ONE phone number, for the media to call.
> > To go a bit further, I think we need to consider creating a
> "GFA Duty
> > Officer" position, staffed at any one time by one of a number of
> > suitable people, RTO types, ie, have them rostered, but
> with ONE phone
> > number only known to GFA people, that can be redirected to
> whoever the
> > duty officer is on any given day / weekend / whatever.
> > Then, when an incident occurs, that one person becomes the
> receiver of
> > all information from the site, the club concerned, etc.
>
> Put yourself in the position of that person.
>
> You're gardening at home on a Sunday afternoon. Somewhere, someone in
> Australia has an accident. That person's club is busy liaising with
> ambulance, police and ATSB, satisfying their duty of care and their
> statutory requirements. Notifying the GFA's media liaison is a pretty
> distant priority. Remember, we have duties of care, laws and
> regulations, and they say our priorities are to care for the injured,
> assist the emergency services, contact the ATSB and notify
> the RTO/Ops.
>
> The media, who have been monitoring emergency services frequencies
> with a scanner, are all over it. They're trying to get telephone
> interviews before the ambulance turns up, and they have an outside
> broadcast van in transit to the airfield hoping to get some juicy
> footage. Even if nobody lets them in they're going to be parked
> outside the gate with a 100x zoom lens hoping to catch something
> worth pixellating on the six o'clock news.
>
> Reporters pretty quickly figure out that the GFA has a media liaison,
> and they ring you up. When you answer the phone you'll get a barrage
> of questions about some accident which you have absolutely
> zero reliable
> information about, and you'll be expected to provide useful, accurate
> and coherent responses to their questions.
>
> Any questions they ask will need to be answered with, "I
> don't know," or
> "No comment," because you won't have the info needed to give accurate
> answers. All you'll really be able to do is offer general motherhood
> statements about how gliding is safe but unforgiving. Those kind of
> responses are going to make a reporter yawn, hang up, and talk to
> someone who actually knows something worth reporting.
>
> (or, more likely, it'll inspire the journo to just make something up).
>
> > Further, it should become mandatory for local / involved
> GFA members to
> > report in ASAP, so that the facts are gathered ASAP, AND it
> should also
> > be mandatory that NO MEDIA INTERVIEWS be given by those local / on
> > scene, AND that it be mandatory that those people refer the media > > immediately to the "GFA Media Liaison Officer" and website.
>
> Your "No media interviews" rule is what makes reporters make stuff up.
> They have a thirst for information, and if information is not provided
> they'll invent it. That's why last weekend's accident had
> six different
> accounts of what happened from six different media outlets: nobody
> said anything substantitive, so they fabricated it from whole cloth.
>
> Last year's launching accident at Stonefield was reported as
> a fatality,
> as a hang glider accident, as involving a light aircraft, and
> as resulting
> in serious spinal injuries by various media agencies. None of those
> assertions were true. One reporter even said, "It is unclear whether
> the accident occurred during take-off or landing," if you can believe
> it. To which the obvious response is, "It was unclear *to
> that reporter*,
> which wasn't surprising because nobody talked to him and he really
> didn't have the faintest idea, so that's what he said in his report."
>
> Far better to have the club nominate someone to take media calls and
> respond to them with simple, quotable, accurate data. "A single seat
> glider was involved in a launching accident. The pilot has sustained
> leg fractures and has been taken to Adelaide for treatment. The ATSB
> will be releasing a report once they've concluded any investigatory
> activities they believe should be carried out, until then we cannot
> speculate on the cause of the accident without compromising those
> investigations." That gives the media everything they need to write
> an accurate story with first-hand data.
>
> > In short, the only way to stop the media reporting crap,
> and worse, is
> > to "feed the media" what WE want them to say.
>
> Agreed, but a GFA media liaison who is expected to respond cogently
> in an emergency isn't the right way to achieve that.
>
> - mark
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
> ----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: +61-8-82231777 -----
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