Special Facebook Tools for Government Agencies and Nonprofits
By Stephanie York, J.D., Hennes Communications It’s worth stating over and over – social media is your organization’s most important tool to disseminate information to your stakeholders amidst a crisis. People who care most about you go to your website. They follow your Twitter feed. Many likely interact with you on your Facebook page. Because […]
Colonial Pipeline Incident: What Happened and Why It Matters
From David London, Managing Director at The Chertoff Group, writing for Homeland Security Today… On Saturday, May 8, Colonial Pipeline confirmed that its information technology (IT) systems were compromised by a ransomware attack. As a precaution, Colonial temporarily halted operational technology (OT) functions across four of its mainlines that transport gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, stretching from […]
To Navigate the Dangers of the Web, You Need Critical Thinking – But Also Critical Ignoring
Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education and History at Stanford University, writing for The Conversation… The web is a treacherous place. A website’s author may not be its author. References that confer legitimacy may have little to do with the claims they anchor. Signals of credibility like a dot-org domain can be the artful handiwork of a Washington, […]
Lawyers & Outrage Management – What Can Outrage Management Offer the Legal Process?
In the last issue of this newsletter, we brought to you Part #1 of an article written by Dr. Peter Sandman titled Lawyers and Outrage Management – Why Do Attorneys Usually Dislike Outrage Management? You can read that article here. We hope you agree that this article is still very much on-point and relevant, with lessons […]
Lawyers & Outrage Management – Why Do Attorneys Usually Dislike Outrage Management?
Regular readers of this newsletter know that one of our favorite writers and consultants is Dr. Peter M. Sandman. Creator of the “Risk = Hazard + Outrage” formula for risk communication, Peter Sandman is one of the preeminent risk communication speakers and consultants in the United States today, and has also worked extensively in Europe, […]
Misinformation, Disinformation and Hoaxes: What’s the Difference?
From Michael J. O’Brien and Izzat Alsmadi, writing for The Conversation… Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging, even for the experts. Just talking about this ever-shifting landscape is confusing, with terms like “misinformation,” “disinformation” and “hoax” getting mixed up with buzzwords like “fake news.” Misinformation is perhaps the […]
Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community – Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Next to Warren Buffett’s annual letter to stockholders, one of the most eagerly anticipated document every year is the Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. From Wikipedia: This report is delivered at a hearing of the US Senate Select Intelligence Committee that has occurred each year since 2006, until 2020. Each hearing includes at least one […]
Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online
From Miles Parks at National Public Radio… The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. According to recent data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, you’re three times more likely to get struck by lightning. But you might not know that from looking at your social media feed. A new NPR analysis finds […]
How Johnson & Johnson Could Regain Public’s Trust In Covid Vaccine Crisis
From Edward Segal, writing in Forbes… The decision to put the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine on pause in the U.S. after six cases of blood clotting were linked to women who took the shot has forced the company to deal with yet another crisis situation. Hours after the pause was announced, the company said it would delay rolling out the vaccine in […]
Resuscitating CDC’s Reputation
Once again, we highlight the work of Dr. Peter Sandman, one of the country’s preeminent experts on the subject of risk communications. In this piece, Dr. Sandman writes about what the CDC needs to do to regain public trust in talking about coronavirus, the tug-of-war between science and politics and the avoidance of hubris. As […]