Posts Tagged ‘Christchurch Earthquake’

1. Media relationships – it’s important to make them work

   Published on Thursday, January 19th, 2012
   The Press has accused EQC of being unprofessional in its portrayal of two of its reporters – one as “schizophrenic in his writing” and another as a “rogue reporter”.

   The background to this is the EQC’s presentation to field staff on Monday reminding them of the organisation’s responsibilities to the media and that media enquiries should be referred to the designated media contact person.

   This story is evidence of natural tensions between an organisation in the spotlight (and even under siege) and the legitimate role of the media – a fact acknowledged by EQC.

   Any organisation that’s dealt with the media on sensitive issues will have some sympathy for the frustrations of the EQC at this time.  No matter how brilliantly they respond to many claims, some people will remain disaffected and will take their complaints to the media, because they feel that is the only power they have.  Whether these complaints are legitimate or not, the EQC has to accept this.

   If the EQC made a mistake in it presentation to staff, it was in overtly personalising its concerns with individual reporters and preference for others.  For its part the newspaper has over-reacted to this. I suspect there’ve been instances when its own reporters have privately characterised some of the EQC’s personnel in less than flattering terms. That’s just human nature.

   It should not be forgotten that contacts between reporters and organisations are complex human relationships.  In pressure situations there can be an added edge, and what the reporter sees as relatively straight forward is often not so, and the relationship can become prickly.

   There is a long way to go in the repair and re-establishment of Christchurch.  The Press and the EQC are two organisations critical to a successful outcome, and it is vital that they take stock of their respective roles and make the relationship work for everyone.

   For any business, dealing with reporters can sometimes be a fraught experience – never more so than in higher-stake situations such as this.  Getting professional advice is often the best course.

2. Mayor Parker and Ballantynes show us how it can be done

   Published on Thursday, December 8th, 2011
   As President of the Public Relations Institute of NZ (PRINZ), I was privileged late last week to present Bob Parker, Mayor of Christchurch with the Institute’s Communicator of the Year award in Christchurch.  It is an annual award bestowed by the College of Fellows, so the selection of Mayor Parker is not simply one of popularity due to level of profile.  It was hard earned and well deserved.

   The word resilience is one I have heard a lot lately and it aptly describes the quality that has been evident across Christchurch as people adapted to these new circumstances.

   Earlier in the year I heard it suggested by one expert commentator that New Zealanders were perhaps less resilient to situations like this because we had, by international standards, such an easy life.  Mayor Parker showed that to be wrong when, as the public face of his city, he consistently demonstrated how resilient they really were (and still are). His wife who was never far from his side and who also carried a significant workload did the same.

   What has emerged is a strong and purposeful community consistently showing resilience in circumstances that none of us dreamt of dealing with.  I would also add: resourceful and proud. Recently we saw this exemplified in the containerised new City Mall that sprung to life and the reopening of Ballantynes, that symbol of classic Christchurch.

   Ballantynes is another brilliant example of the Christchurch resilience. It has shone as a beacon of hope and normality for people. From the start Ballantynes adopted a ‘business as usual’ attitude – even though their iconic store was in the red zone and their own staff were seriously affected – no workplace and in some cases no home themselves.

   It has been a remarkable story of how managing director Mary Devine and her team worked to remain accessible to customers throughout eight months of closure. Their website (online store), household mailers and special customer events held at venues around the city helped maintain precious contact.

   In receiving his award, Mayor Parker said he was not the only one who deserved this acknowledgement as a communicator. That’s undoubtedly true, but leadership through communication sets the path for others and that is what he did. Congratulations to Mayor Parker and his entire crew on being inspiring communicators.

3. A campaign to help the country…

   Published on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
   

   Top scientist and New Zealander of the Year Sir Paul Callaghan has launched a campaign to get young people overseas to repay their student loans to aid Christchurch and the country which is facing chronic debt as a result of the quake.

   The basis of the campaign is to make heroes of the 1000s of these debtors. Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard thinks the campaign is a brilliant idea.

   It’s a brave call to arms on the basis that “New Zealand needs you”, and it will be fascinating to see how well it works, even with the power of social media. But how well do Sir Paul and Alan Bollard know their audience?

   Living and dealing with students as he does at Victoria University, I would expect Sir Paul to know his target, and like others, I would dearly like to see such a campaign work. Sadly I suspect it lacks the critical sizzle factor and there is not enough personal upside. Even if they accept the legitimacy of their debt, most students, however overwhelmed by the sight of Christchurch’s devastation, see it as an obligation, not an opportunity for good. As such (an obligation), noble causes don’t come into it.

   And even Sir Paul is having a bob each way with his comments: “If the hot coals fall on me, so be it – I’m too old to care”.

   Human nature being what it is, possibly the only campaign that might work is of the name and shame variety; however the debtors know that no one is going there.

   What Sir Paul’s campaign has done is remind us all of what a serious drag recalcitrant student loans are on the economy, and why the task of rebuilding Christchurch will be that much steeper than it should be.

4. A storm in an outhouse

   Published on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
   During the past two weeks we have been extremely well served by our national media in their reports of the earthquake and the aftermath.  Overwhelmingly the coverage has been realistic and balanced.

   Balance and realism are: the 9000 jobs lost, 10,000 homes to be torn down and $15 billion in damage.  They are also in the hundreds of individual and collective accounts of the heroism and tragedy that we hear and read.

   Long may this continue, because the job of rebuilding Christchurch is massive and will impact all of us well into the future.

   However, even now I sense that the tendency to stray into the realm of un-realism is irresistible to some media, and in the process distorting the bigger picture.  Possibly because of perceived injustices, portaloos are emerging as a symbol of this tendency.  In no way do I underestimate the disappointment, discomfort and unpleasantness of not having a flush loo. However, the reality is that in a number of areas the waste system that has served so many for so long, and so faithfully, has been destroyed. A replacement system cannot be conjured up, so holes in ground, plastic bags and chemical toilets, where there is no escaping one’s own waste, are the new reality.  As important as toileting facilities are, are they really the major concern of the majority of quake-affected Cantabrians at this time?

   In the context of the tragedies thrown up by this disaster and the efforts to reconstruct, history will show this flurry over portaloos, and who got them first (and what type), will be an irrelevance. The media should resist the temptation to see it as more than this in the present.

   I have no doubt that a vibrant and beautiful Christchurch will emerge from what is today a disaster area. New Zealand Inc will just make the long journey to that future even longer if it loses its sense of balance and realism as the recovery process proceeds.

   The media has done a magnificent job so far. Long may it last.

5. Two minutes of silence … and then it’s back to rebuilding our nation

   Published on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
   Today, as I stood with my colleagues to observe the two minute silence to mark the deaths and human tragedy resulting from the February 22 earthquake, my thoughts were dominated by how humans react to disaster.

   How those trapped and facing imminent death, turned their thoughts to their immediate families. How they sought to reach out through cell phone, txts of just their mental messages, to give and receive solace, and to simply say, ‘I love you’.

   For many of us the stresses of daily life have the potential to get in the way of what is really important, but when faced with death we consign it to its rightful, meaningless place.

   I thought of the images I saw of those, not in immediate danger, looking to assist those needing help.

   There were untold numbers who did incredible as well as small things, all acts of human kindness that meant so much to those who needed help.

   For me, the sight of Sam Siave tossing blocks of concrete aside as he sought to get at a trapped person, and the words of Peter Beck, the Cathedral’s Dean, covered in dust, being interviewed minutes after the earthquake struck, were inspirational, and will live with me for a long time.

   Having worked with Peter for more than a decade in helping restore Auckland’s St Matthew-in-the-City I know of his love for church buildings. Yet surrounded by the rubble that was his cathedral, he was totally dismissive of the loss, his immediate thought was for the people ‘in there’ that had to be saved.

   And if, in the future, we ever have doubts about the power of leadership, we need only remember the example shown by Mayor Bob Parker in this crisis. His words, calmness and authority have been a beacon providing reassurance, hope and confidence in the future.

   Two, silent minutes were enough to make us one, as a nation and a community. We have put aside the meaningless, and have started on the long way back to rebuilding our nation.

6. Every day heroes respond instinctively to the Christchurch Quake

   Published on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
   Like most people I spent last evening watching back to back earthquake coverage. Our heart goes out to the people in the city.

   Last night my instinctive reaction was to buy one of the early flights today and go down and help. But it’s clear that just now there’s no need for knee jerk heroics or reactions. At 12.51 yesterday as the earthquake hit, thousands of people and organisations immediately swung into action and the response continues.

   Each and every one of them is a true hero. Cantabrians and those visiting the region are in our minds, and if you’re like me, concern for their situation is mixed with sheer awe at the way they are dealing with this unimaginable event.

   Since I visited New Orleans post-Katrina (2005), it has been clear to me that in a major civil defence emergency, if you can you need to help yourself, then emergency services will be able to help those in serious need and those without support.

   Canterbury knows this, and there will be some who owe their lives to the swift action of individuals during yesterday’s events. Support is coming from everywhere and everyone, yet it appears as though it is one well oiled machine albeit with many different components.

   My sense of this is entirely through the news I’ve been watching. The efforts of spokespeople from the many agencies and organisations interviewed during hours of coverage is, I think, a reflection of the on-the-ground response. They are fantastic people and professionals doing what needs to be done, to save lives, and protect people from further trauma and discomfort.

   These spokespeople seem to instinctively know this was another important part of the job that required complete focus, no room for error or nerves. Each person gave vital information that was reassuring and realistic. Even when some journalists pressed for issues around response times and under-resourcing, the spokespersons confidently pushed back and reassured people that they were there to help as required.

   While it’s not possible to single out one group or person, I do think the journalists who reported live from Christchurch yesterday deserve a special mention. They had just experienced the earthquake and some possibly had come out of damaged buildings. Others still have colleagues missing or possibly deceased. But they put their own personal trauma aside to take the lead on getting the story and important information out to people. Even while still trying to confirm where their own family and friends were, they knew how important it was to get the news out more widely.

   This sensitive but pragmatic response was evident in the response from the Orion spokesperson. Based on their past experiences, whether from earthquakes or snow-storms, he said they had learnt to not immediately rush in and throw everything at fixing what first appears the most obvious issue (I paraphrase). Instead sit back and get a view of the big picture, and then you will know where to prioritise your resources.

   The entire team at Network PR is providing support needed to client organisations, and will be glad to help any other companies in the affected region who would benefit from our experience and support.

7. Finding fairness for all victims is what will define us

   Published on Friday, September 24th, 2010
   Though of a similar magnitude, the contrast between the initial human impact of the Christchurch and Haiti earthquakes could not have been more stark.  No doubt this was a factor that prompted former Prime Minister Helen Clark to promote New Zealand as an example to the world of earthquake preparedness.

   While the initial response phases of the Christchurch quake appear to be behind us, the shock and the basic clean-up, the most difficult period for the victims is still ahead. There have been many stories of good and bad fortune, but unlike Haiti where the human impact was immediate and huge, returning to life “the way we were” is well into the future, if at all. The frustrations and anger vented in recent days by a group of Avonside residents are a portent of things to come. While local councils, the EQC and insurance companies scramble to meet the expectations of their customers, lasting solutions are many months away. No matter how hard those in positions of responsibility work – whether it is government, councils or insurance companies, their effort will undoubtedly fall short of expectations.

   What of those people who are not customers of insurance companies and the EQC? What is their plight and who will pay for the necessary rebuilding and/or repairs to their homes?  So far there have been mainly vague and oblique references to the effect that those in the most need will be “looked after”.

   A solution will have to be found for the estimated 5% uninsured – around 5000 people – and there will need to be a measure of fairness in the way these folk are dealt with versus the insured.  For example, would it be fair if the uninsured received preferential access to the all-purpose fund that is attracting public and private donations?

   The plight of both the insured and the uninsured will attract the media’s attention in the months ahead, and we can expect the uninsured to become the real causes célèbres, our “Haitians”, because that’s what happens. 

   There must be fairness for all victims, and I believe it will be the responses to these issues that will define us, perhaps better than Helen Clark’s spotlight on our preparedness.

8. Radio Stands Tall When Canterbury Earthquake Hits

   Published on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
   While TVNZ proudly proclaimed that 2 million Kiwis tuned in to its coverage of the Canterbury earthquake, the run-away winner story-teller in the first hours of the disaster was radio.

   By 7am on Saturday morning National Radio and Newstalk ZB were bringing us eye witness descriptions from people – professionals and the public – who painted images of the devastation for us with their verbal accounts.

   On ZB anchor man Larry Williams was superb – seamlessly ensuring listeners understood the big picture, bringing us the personal tragedies while sending out a steady stream of civil emergency messages to those that needed vital information.

   It was compelling, and radio at its very best.

   Compare that to TV1 and TV3 at 7am. What earthquake! We were being served up reruns of ‘entertainment’ programmes. Not even an on screen caption mentioning our largest ever recorded earthquake had occurred.

   Naturally BBC and CNN were telling the world about it. What an indictment of our own television news services that we had to go overseas to find out what was happening in our own country.

   Some time after 8am TV1 finally woke from its slumber and started to bring us excellent coverage, and we were able to ‘see’ what ZB had been describing brilliantly for an hour. TV3 had roused itself to putting up an onscreen caption under its entertainment programmes telling us it would bring us news of the earthquake from 11am. ‘News’ – by then it was ‘history’.

   Social media also found the going tough as a communication medium through a combination of overloading, civil defence requesting people to restrict cell phone use to reserve capacity for emergency services, and the battery back up to power cell sites running low.

   The other standout was Mayor Bob Parker. It was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man. Authoritative and calm, he exuded all that you want from the person in control when disaster strikes.