More Monitoring, Less Coordination: Twitter and Facebook Use between Emergency Management Agencies

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Wukich
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Public Information Officers ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Media Applications ◽  
Training Opportunities

AbstractSocial media applications facilitate information sharing between agencies, yet scholarship primarily focuses on government-to-citizen communication. This article explores how agencies use social networking applications and microblogs such as Twitter and Facebook to share information and interact with each other. Public information officers (PIOs) from 35 state emergency management agencies were interviewed, and transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Findings demonstrate that PIOs employ Twitter and Facebook to monitor content for situational awareness, post training opportunities, network with other agencies, and share and reuse content in different ways. Fewer agencies directly coordinate preparedness information campaigns during nonthreat periods and risk communication during emergency response operations. General impediments to those practices include lack of personnel, insufficient technical knowledge, and preferences for other channels. In all, Twitter and Facebook complement—but do not take the place of—other information and communications technology (ICTs) that facilitate operational coordination.

Social Media in Emergency Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Wukich
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interactive Nature ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Media Applications

Social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter enable the rapid transmission of public warning messages in the event of a disaster. This augments traditional channels such as television and radio and may indeed save lives. The interactive nature of social media enables other types of information exchange beyond the one-way broadcast of warnings and guidance that has long characterized risk communication. Authorities monitor social media data for situational awareness, and they can solicit input from the public and engage in more deliberative conversations. In turn, the public initiates communication by asking questions, providing input, and requesting help. They expand the reach of official messages by sharing with friends and followers. Therefore, from an emergency management perspective, social media applications can disrupt the traditional one-way mode of communication and improve the efficacy of efforts to communicate risk. Research from across academic disciplines (e.g., computer science, communication, information systems, public administration, and sociology) illustrates: (a) the need for social media in emergency management; (b) the related benefits of use; and (c) the best practices used to attain those benefits. This offers a roadmap for authorities to effectively implement social media in their organizations while avoiding potential pitfalls.

scholarly journals The Impact of Policy Measures on Human Mobility, COVID-19 Cases, and Mortality in the US: A Spatiotemporal Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Yun Li ◽  
Moming Li ◽  
Megan Rice ◽  
Haoyuan Zhang ◽  
Dexuan Sha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
The Us ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

Social distancing policies have been regarded as effective in containing the rapid spread of COVID-19. However, there is a limited understanding of policy effectiveness from a spatiotemporal perspective. This study integrates geographical, demographical, and other key factors into a regression-based event study framework, to assess the effectiveness of seven major policies on human mobility and COVID-19 case growth rates, with a spatiotemporal emphasis. Our results demonstrate that stay-at-home orders, workplace closures, and public information campaigns were effective in decreasing the confirmed case growth rate. For stay-at-home orders and workplace closures, these changes were associated with significant decreases (p < 0.05) in mobility. Public information campaigns did not see these same mobility trends, but the growth rate still decreased significantly in all analysis periods (p < 0.01). Stay-at-home orders and international/national travel controls had limited mitigation effects on the death case growth rate (p < 0.1). The relationships between policies, mobility, and epidemiological metrics allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of each policy and gave us insight into the spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms by which these measures work. Our analysis will provide policymakers with better knowledge regarding the effectiveness of measures in space–time disaggregation.

scholarly journals Research on Organizational Communication

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catrin Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Public Information ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Internal Communication ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Wide Definition ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Swedish research on organizational communication is characterized by empirical, qualitative research. The tradition of holistic and profound case studies is strong. In this article, a wide definition of organizational communication is employed, including research focusing on both internal and external communication. Research themes and methods are reviewed and discussed. The majority of the studies concern public information, including health communication and crisis communication. Particularly, scholars have studied planning and evaluation of information campaigns concerning health, traffic and environment; and more recently, authority communication during major crises in society. Research focusing on organizations’ internal communication includes topics such as superior-subordinate communication, organizational learning, sensemaking, communication strategies and communication efficiency. Strengths and weaknesses following from this empirical case study research tradition are highlighted. Finally, the contribution of Swedish research in an international perspective is discussed.

scholarly journals Practical use of ArcGIS for the ensurance of national security

Connectivity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Semenchuk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Geographic Context ◽  
Interagency Cooperation

At the present stage of development, the geographic information system (GIS) technology can be applied in many areas, including national security. Geospatial data create new opportunities for resolving vital issues, among which are detection and immediate response to threats and dangers, as well as for making effective management decisions on preventive security development. Previously, GIS has been a technology used by a small group of geospatial data analysts with limited access to up-to-date data. Nowadays, the ArcGIS software is a geospatial platform, which provides capabilities to the civil security sector of countries striving for sustainable development, public order and emergency prevention. ArcGIS maps and applications can help governments to create space for interagency cooperation in national security and other fields, where geospatial data is an administrative and decision-making instrument. The article describes the advantages of the ArcGIS software, including its extensions and add-ons, the best practices of applying GIS technology for the purposes of public order enforcement, potential offense detection and public event security. In addition, ArcGIS is used to access the existing data and integrate it into a common geographic context - a web map ensuring the interoperability of data and a better understanding of how to take security measures and make objects clearly visible. The GIS application analysis has shown that public order enforcement through the utilization of geospatial data implies the detection of dangers, threats and vulnerabilities, interagency cooperation thanks to shared situational awareness across multiple groups for daily operations, and action coordination with the use of the latest technologies and public information. At this point, the ArcGIS software makes it easier to take national security and pubic order measures from any device, at any time and place.

Universities

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earle Holland
Keyword(s):  
Department Chair ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
State University ◽  
The Public ◽  
Science Writer ◽  
Public Information Officers ◽  
The One ◽  
University Science

Science writing at a university has to be one of the world's great jobs. If the institution is serious about its research, you're a kid in a candy store. In my case, at Ohio State University, with more than 3,500 faculty, the question is what to write about first—not where to look for stories. Big universities are that way, but the same rules apply for smaller places that are intent on doing great research. Let's begin with the basics. While public information officers at universities face a buffet of varying tasks—from covering boards of trustees' meetings to athletic scandals to student riots—the role of the science PIO is more focused: Concentrate on university research; explain what is new and why it is important to the public. Stated that way, the job seems simple, but science writers at a university may have to jump from astronomy to immunology to psychology to anthropology all in the same week. That represents a lot of intellectual gear shifting; but remember, the rules about reporting on research generally stay the same from field to field. What is the news? Why is it important? What is the context for the research? That is, what are the questions that drive it? Why should the readers care? And last, do the findings point us somewhere new? The only things that change from story to story are the researchers' language and the culture specific to their fields. Nearly every time I give a talk on university science writing—and there have been dozens—someone asks the classic question: How do you find your stories? The glib answer is “Everywhere;” but in truth, that's pretty accurate. Some people envision situations where top researchers have a “eureka” moment and then immediately get on the phone to the campus science writer to get the word out. Or perhaps the researcher's department chair or dean, ever attuned to their colleagues' work, is the one to pass along such news. I wish that were so; but sadly, it's more likely that researcher, department chair, or dean will never think about calling a writer until long after everything else is done.

19 Art. 20 GG: Democracy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bumke Christian ◽  
Voßkuhle Andreas
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
The People ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
District Assemblies

This chapter discusses the democracy principle as articulated in Art. 20 of the Grundgesetz (GG). Art. 20 para. 2 GG defines democracy in this manner: ‘All state authority is derived from the people. It shall be exercised by the people’. GG associates the concept of democracy with the concept of the state. Although the Federal Constitutional Court has avoided any reference to the principle of democracy, it has interpreted some fundamental rights in light of the principle. The chapter first considers the Court's jurisprudence regarding political will formation in a representative democracy, focussing on cases dealing with voting rights of foreigners, elections to district assemblies, popular referendum, and public-information campaigns. It then examines cases relating to exercise of state authority, with emphasis on the position of Parliament in relation to other branches of government, forms of democratic legitimation, and functional self-government.

scholarly journals Affecting migration: Public information campaigns and the intimate spatialities of border enforcement

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1198-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill M Williams
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Border Enforcement ◽  
Gender Ideologies ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Feminist Geopolitics ◽  
Hard Power ◽  
Power Strategies ◽  
Depth Interviews

A broad body of research has examined the shifting spatialities of contemporary border enforcement efforts, drawing particular attention to how border enforcement efforts increasingly take place away from the territorial edges of border enforcing states. However, existing research largely focuses on border enforcement efforts that mobilize strategies of militarization, securitization, and criminalization. In response, this paper draws on work in the fields of emotional and feminist geopolitics, to broaden understandings of the sites, modalities, and spatialities of border governance. Drawing on in-depth interviews, archival research, and discourse analysis, this paper examines public information campaigns launched by US border enforcement agencies between 1990 and 2012. In doing so, I show how these campaigns aim to affect migrant decision-making and reduce unauthorized migration by circulating strategically crafted messages and images into the intimate spaces of everyday life where potential migrants and their loved ones live and socialize. Unlike the hard power strategies of militarized borders and migrant criminalization, public information campaigns work as soft-power tools of governance that target the emotional registers of viewers and both respond to and counter particular gender ideologies. As this analysis suggests, understanding the full complexity of contemporary border governance requires that we broaden the scope of analysis beyond the hard power strategies of militarization, securitization, and criminalization to examine the softer side of border governance, a project that the insights of feminist political geography are particularly well suited for.

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