Ever since the Internet came along, spreading “free” content and taking advertising dollars away from newspapers, the relationship between news organizations and Web technology has been under a microscope. (Ironically, newspapers now appear to be
turning back to the Internet – specifically, to e-book tablets – to begin monetizing their services again).
Many would-be journalists who long have piggy-backed off of newspaper reporters – the men and women who generate 85 percent of all news, by many accounts – fall into the categories like bloggers and so-called “first reporters.”
The best bloggers are true industry insiders who know their areas in intimate ways that beat reporters probably never will. Others may be writing about topics that interest them from a particular point of view, such as a political stance, or hobbyists who like to interact with like-minded people.
But during medical emergencies, or perceived emergencies – such as the swine flu panic that appears to be
dying down – the information conveyed by anyone with a computer can be irretrievably damaging.
At the same time, technology – including video-based communications – can bring new opportunities to better monitor, respond, and sustain accurate, timely, and appropriate communications, one expert told us today.
During an interview with Dr. Robert C. Chandler (printed in full below), an expert on organizational behavior and communication during human health crises, we get an in-depth look at the role communications play in facilitating collaboration among experts, leaders and health care providers.
We also get some expert perspective on the dangers posed by an open Internet when it’s in the wrong hands.
Chandler has vast experience on the topic. He's written more than 75 papers and articles and has authored six books focusing on topics including pandemic communications, crisis leadership, crisis teams, crisis decision-making and behavior, human factors during crises, and organizational communication assessment . He also developed the “Chandler Message Mapping Model” of emergency communication that he has employed in a variety of emergency simulations.
Our exchange follows.
HealthTechZone: We see that you have wide experience in communications during emergencies and the threat of emergencies, including pandemics such as a disease like swine flu could cause. It seems to us that technology and IP communications could be seen as both a blessing and a curse in this regard, as the rapid spread of information also includes the rapid spread of bad, misleading or incomplete information. Talk to us about how technology has improved and/or hamstrung our ability to communicate effectively in times of crisis?
Dr. Robert C. Chandler (pictured left): The emergence of new communication technology has certainly exacerbated some long-standing problems in these circumstances – for example, rumors, misinformation, malevolence and gossip.
The challenges of “first reporters” who post inaccurate or fearful messages on the Internet and are accessed as “legitimate sources” of information by the general public is certainly a concern.
However, the new technologies have also created opportunities to monitor, respond, and sustain accurate, timely, and appropriate communication. In fact, we can now monitor rumors on the Internet, trends – for example, through Twitter activity – or even outbreak monitoring tools, such as Google.org, which tracks Internet queries which are predictive of people who are ill or sick with influenza.
New technologies have greatly increased the speed at which one can reach key audiences and provide for a direct “sender-to-receiver” connection which can reduce the number of “gatekeepers” (intermediaries) for messages which can correspondingly reduce the number of sequential communication errors that inherently occur (like those experienced in playing the old “telephone game” back in grade school). Modern technology, on balance, is making it possible for fewer people to sustain direct communication with a larger audience.
HealthTechZone: What – if anything – has been unique about the way information on swine flu has spread over the past several days, as compared to past health threats?
RC: The news media is now a 24/7 multi-media operation that has an insatiable need to attract viewers and readers, so it has a tendency to sensationalize every new development as “breaking news.” Television, radio, and online news sources are continuously accessible, and compared to past health threats there is far greater public awareness and concern, much sooner – earlier than in past health issues – and a tendency to personalize the health threat.
This has also changed the way that people perceive “risk.” The immediacy of the new communication media tends to make people more anxious and perceive greater risks than in times past. Today, we “see ourselves” more directly threatened as we view images from Mexico or some other distant land. If the CDC reports that 214 people in a nation of 300 million-plus have been infected, then we tend to fear that we are one of the 214, not one of the 2,999,786.
HealthTechZone: Talk to us about visual communications in particular. We regularly cover technologies such as video-based communications and telepresence on our site. How much does the quality of that technology impact the effectiveness of a communications campaign?
RC: One way to measure quality is in terms of how much the medium conveys all of the diverse range of human verbal, non-verbal, and contextual communication factors. The “richer” the medium the more of these various para-language, non-verbal, and contextual “cues” are perceived and incorporated into interpreting and understanding the other person.
The “leaner” the medium, the fewer of these cues are included. The “quality” of communication, in these terms, impacts the process in terms of a richer content that can reduce misunderstandings, increase empathy, provide superior contextual signals, sustain feedback and two-way interaction, increase trustworthiness, allow for monitoring of the status of others, and help keep the focus on the messages with fewer distractions.
HealthTechZone: Many of us look to government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for immediate and accurate information about potential pandemics. Those kinds of agencies are extremely careful about the information they disseminate, and it makes sense that they’ve taken extra precautions when it comes to securing their networks. Can you talk to us about the relative security, when it comes to communications, of agencies upon which we rely for that critical information?
RC: Not all sources of information are equally credible. “Official” sources have both a legal and ethical mandate to ensure that the information they communicate is the most accurate available. Public health agencies have clear mission mandates. Corporate, agency, and other authoritative sources have self-defined missions to ensure accuracy.
Even traditional news media have codes of conduct and ethical standards that are in place to ensure that what they communicate is accurate and reliable. However, the “new media” sources – private Internet blogs, “first reporters” and forwarded e-mail messages – have no such moral or expertise compass and are therefore presumed to less reliable, accurate, or reliable.
HealthTechZone: What do you envision in the future, in terms of communications during times of wide or even national crises? Is this an area where video-based communications and telepresence can do far more than they do now?
RC: I see the technology advancing to the point where it should be possible to have targeted (individualized), narrow-cast messages in rich media formats (such as video communication) from trustworthy sources communicated via a two-way (interactive) format in a timely, redundant, and self-correcting (feedback and behavioral response) manner to targeted audiences nation-wide (or further) using the most preferred/available delivery devices, including high mobility devices.
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Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by
Michael Dinan
