Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe © Matthias Heyde / Fraunhofer FOKUS | Google Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe Stefanie Wahl, Karolin Bauer & Lars Gerhold March 14th, 2017 ICRC, Orlando, Florida

Background Public authorities need to inform public about ongoing situation (Beneito-Montagut et al., 2013) impact of social media on disaster management (Alexander, 2014; BBK, 2017) lack of concepts, strategies (Beneito-Montagut et al., 2013; BBK, 2010) What are good practices? Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Background Communication of situation reports external, organisational communication of public authorites with the public during diasaster events about the situation to inform and support disaster management Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Research Questions RQ1: What concepts do European emergency agencies use for public communication of situation reports? RQ2: What challenges do arise when communicating situation reports? RQ3: How are these challenges addressed? Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Literature Review Challenges for communicating situation reports (Alexander, 2014; IRGC, 2012; Wendling, Radisch, & Jacobzone, 2013, Lindsay, 2011, Watson & Finn, 2013) audience: e.g. media use, trust, rumors/ fake news organisation: e.g. concepts, staff (skills), training technology: e.g. power, cybersecurity, compability legislation: e.g. liablity, data privacy Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Literature Review Challenges for communicating situation reports (Alexander, 2014; IRGC, 2012; Wendling, Radisch, & Jacobzone, 2013, Lindsay, 2011) audience: e.g. media use, trust, rumors/ fake news organisation: e.g. concepts, resources, training technology: e.g. power, cybersecurity, compability legislation: e.g. liablity, data privacy Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Method Qualitative expert interviews semi-structured English, German Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria National Emergency Management Agencies, Meteorological Institutes, Ministries, Red Cross Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | organisation Communication concepts proactive communication (NL, DK) what area/who is (not) affected (DK) refer to trustworthy sources (DK, NL, AT) respond to people‘s emotions, concerns (NL) inform about information availability (NL) counter rumors, false information (DK, NL) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | audience Preferred media channels Organisation‘s website (DK, NL) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | audience Preferred media channels Organisation‘s website (DK, NL) Twitter (DK, NL, AT) „ […] we know that there is no one on Twitter, but those that are on Twitter are the journalists that reach the whole of the population. So it is like an open news agency for authorities.” (DEMA, DK) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | audience Preferred media channels Organisation‘s website (DK, NL) Twitter (DK, NL, AT) Disaster messages on radio, tv platforms (DK) „ […] we have […] a deal with them [public broadcasting] that says that in specific emergency situations, where people's lives are at stake, we can actually dismantle the normal free press privilege. So we can launch unedited disaster information from their platforms. (DEMA, DK) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | audience Preferred media channels Organisation‘s website (DK, NL) Twitter (DK, NL, AT) Disaster messages on radio, tv platforms (DK) (Warning) App (DK), text messages (NL) Email, phone (NL, DK) Sirens (DK, AT) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Findings (preliminary) | organisation Skills, training and networking Knowing communication skills of organisation‘s members (DK) Regular training (DK, NL) Manual monitoring of social media channels (DK, NL, AT) Responding equally to different journalists (AT) Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Takeaways Address not only facts, but also emotions. Refer to trustworthy sources. Know the communication skills of your staff. Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

Thank you very much for your kind attention. stefanie. wahl@fu-berlin Thank you very much for your kind attention. stefanie.wahl@fu-berlin.de Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe

References Alexander, D. E. (2014). Social Media in Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Management, Science and Engineering Ethics, 20, 717-733. Beneito-Montagut, R., Anson, S., Shaw, D., & Brewster, C. (2013). Governmental Social Media Use for Emergency Communication. T. Comes, F. Fiedrich, S. Fortier, J. Geldermann, & T. Müller (Eds.). Proceedings of the 10th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 828-833). Baden-Baden: KIT. Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK) (2017). Rahmenempfehlungen für den Einsatz von Social Media im Bevölkerungsschutz [Guidelines for Social Media Use in Civil Protection]. Retrieved from http://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/BBK/DE/Publikationen/Broschueren_Flyer/Rahmenempf_Einsatz_Social_Medi a_BevS.pdf?__blob=publicationFile . Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK) (2010). Neue Strategie zum Schutz der Bevölkerung [New Strategy for Civil Protection]. Bonn: BBK. International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). (2012). Social Media and Crisis Communication. Addressing the challenges of using social media to improve crisis communication and management. Geneva: IRGC. Lindsay, B. R. (2011). Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41987.pdf . Watson, H., & Finn, R. L. (2013). Privacy and Ethical Implications of the Use of Social Media during a Volcanic Eruption: Some Initial Thoughts. T. Comes, F. Fiedrich, S. Fortier, J. Geldermann, & T. Müller (Eds.). Proceedings of the 10th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 416-420). Baden-Baden: KIT. Wendling, C., Radisch, J., & Jacobzone, S. (2013). The Use of Social Media in Risk and Crisis Communication. OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, 25, 1-41. Wahl, Bauer & Gerhold | Concepts and challenges for communicating situation reports in Europe