Opening remarks to Asian broadcasters workshop on Pandemics & Broadcasting during Asia Media Summit 2013 held in Manado, Indonesia, where I was facilitator and a speaker.

1. BE PREPARED!
MANAGING YOUR ORGANISATION
THROUGH A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Workshop at Asia Media Summit 2013
28 May 2013: Manado, Indonesia
Opening remarks by Nalaka Gunawardene, Facilitator

2. This workshop…
Seeking to:
 raise awareness of pandemic issues
and…
 provide knowledge & tools to
enable their stations to keep
broadcasting and serve public in
the case of a fast-breaking
pandemic or other transnational
crisis.

3. Our coverage: via 4 themes
 What does a pandemic
look like?
 Business continuity and
disaster preparedness
 Broadcasting during a
pandemic
 The aftermath: trauma &
recovery

4. Our coverage: 2 types
 Broadcast content
 Information sourcing & verification
 Editorial decisions
 Ethical dilemmas
 Collaboration w/ health authorities
 Broadcast operations:
 Staying on air, no matter what
 Keeping staff healthy & motivated
 Sustaining logistics in crisis times

5. Communication expertise:
Integral to outbreak control
“WHO believes it is now time to
acknowledge that
communication expertise has
become an essential outbreak
control as epidemiological
training & laboratory analysis…”
- WHO Outbreak Communication
Guidelines, 2005
[WHO/CDS/2005.28]
Online: http://tiny.cc/OCG2005

6. Have we learnt lessons of SARS 2003?

7. Don’t Panic!

9. Are open societies more resilient?
China’s
handling of
SARS crisis:
Boston
Globe
cartoon
2003

10. ICT/media context 2013…
Photo by Louie Psihoyos, www.psihoyos.com

11. ICT/media context 2013…

12. The world in tweets…
Mapping the Global Twitter Heartbeat
First Monday journal, May 2013
http://tiny.cc/TwtMap

13. Crying Wolf in the Global Village?
Social media have made it much easier
today than in 2003! Can same means be
used to reassure a panicky world?

14. Disaster warnings in a
cacophonous world
“The proliferation of information and
communication technologies (ICTs) adds a new
dimension to disaster warnings. Having many
information sources, dissemination channels
and access devices is certainly better than few
or none. However, the resulting cacophony
makes it difficult to achieve a coherent and
coordinated response…”
- Crying wolf over disasters undermines future
warnings by Rohan Samarajiva & Nalaka Gunawardene,
SciDev.Net, 6 February 2013 http://bit.ly/116i6hJ

15. Challenges: Old & New…
 How to nurture TRUST (in govts, experts)
 How best to manage EARLY WARNINGS?
 When & how to admit UNCERTAINTY?
 DENIAL vs. PANIC
 Levels of MEDIA FREEDOM in a country
 Communication strategies vs Reality
 Engaging SOCIAL MEDIA (Smart mobs?)

16. Rules of engagement for today…
 Main focus: Pandemics/broadcasting
 Backdrop: crisis/risk communication
 Everything on the record
 No topic taboo
 Stay focused yet flexible
 Free, open exchange: share, debate
 ENGAGE!

17. #AMS2013
@cbamedia
@NalakaG