That the Obama Administration will find more and more often to deal with crisis situations, precisely those that are surprising for the ways in which they happen, those where there are high damages to persons and things, those that ultimately require answers in a short time, is under the eyes of all. But it is also under the eyes of all as the Obama Administration has just acquired, if not made the criteria established by the crisis communication and how in tricky situations thanks to them, is able to manage well the communication. In a nutshell knows how to communicate to citizens, knows how to speak to communities whose life is concerned.
A reading of the first declaration of Barack Obama can be an effective tool for reflection and understanding of the usefulness of a proper management of crisis communication, but before going on to study the message of Barack Obama two quick reflections albeit based solely on what transmitted and disseminated by national and international media (television and journalistic reportage and services) and from the web.
The first analysis focuses on two different communication strategies activated immediately after the attacks. On the one hand short messages, broadcast by the local authorities and by the structures of security and safety immediately intervened. These messages contain concrete suggestions on things to do and the things made, directions to the population and provide information on the posts who allowed all the excitement and activity of response on the field.
On the other hand, a message carefully studied and balanced by the highest authority of the nation, the President, can transmit through the firmness and moderation of speech, the institutions' commitment and trust that the population can be stored in the action of restoring normalcy and capture of those responsible.
The second aims to highlight how this event has sparked a major collaboration between the authorities and the large network of information and communication. Television networks, but also communication agencies have responded by providing useful links and addresses became available, through their links on Twitter and other social networks, to seek beds for all those who had need. So even the big networks of the Internet: Google, for example, after a few minutes he opened a portal "Google Person Finder Boston Marathon" through which you can search the missing persons report or information about some discovery.
Barack Obama addressed the nation three hours after the attack, which is considered a proper amount of time for a response from the national authority. Good time for authority to acquire data and information before exposure in the first person with a message. To spend more time would have meant leaving space to a sense of uncertainty and confusion and would favor the emergence of speculation about the effectiveness of the response in progress.
This mode of communication management is similar to the recommendations found in the literature: on the sidelines of an immediate communication accompanied by technical information illustrative of the facts, to be sent to the population in a very short time, it is crucial to work more generally, by the highest government authority in the area, or a senior executive of the organization involved, able to expose themselves in the first person and to offer as far as possible, an overall picture and reassurance addressed to the population within the first hours of the event.
The president's message was maintained at a range of difficult balance against the risk of falling out of a falsely reassuring message, or, on the contrary, a statement of alarmist in the absence of verified information. He maintained a serious tone and did precede his television appearance by a tweet: "All Americans stand with the people of Boston."
Even the list of the topics followed by Obama has been extremely careful to follow a specific order opening, after a brief statement that "We are continuing to monitor and react to the situation as it unfolds," with an immediate reference to the victims and their families, commemorating the memory.
The message, in the central, most important, made explicit reference to the highest offices of the State, by the head of the FBI, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Congress (in its entirety, both majority and opposition), to the Governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston, the Police, the fire Department and the National Guard, in a few lines representing the solidarity and commitment of the entire nation alongside the stricken city. By offering this list of personality structures and supportive and engaged in rescue operations and investigations, the President reiterates and emphasizes in this way, the concept already expressed in the tweet sent before the press conference and prepares the way, at the end of this long period, for a hearing undisputed and thanks to all the rescuers.
Another strength that has characterized the communication clarity for Obama is that it has meant that the message, calling attention to elements of uncertainty as the admission of the difficulties, however, evident to all citizens, was a means to call together all available forces. An admission that early in a sentence in the opening speech, "We have all the answers yet," is strengthened further emphasizing the difficulty by declaring "I still do not know who did this and why ', immediately followed, however, by the will to maintain the commitment and determination to hit the leaders and restoring tranquility to the population.
Obama ended the speech with a short tribute to the city hit by the attack, its history and its citizens, to their strength and their pride.
This ladder traces as suggested in the national and international literature on messages relating to the management of effective communication in a crisis situation or to always open the speech by giving cognizance of the victims and commemorating, then move on to the situation and what you are doing, what you will do to medium term and, in closing, a note of courage and hope.
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