Communication Crisis Blog 2

After conducting some more research I have come to terms that the most effecting means of communicating information to the general public during the 2009 flood was the radio. I choose to do my research paper on the city of Fargo. KFGO the self proclaimed number one radio station for providing news for the cities of Fargo and Moorhead was the primary source of communicating information to the general public. KFGO employees Joel Heitkamp and Bob Harris played key roles in providing the public with information during the flood crisis on their radio shows.

Y94 was also one of the major radio stations that provided the public with key information on issues concerning the flood from the research I conducted. Johnny Max, Zero, Rat and Megan from the morning play house served as a big source of information to the public, by using their various radio shows especially the morning play house to provide news for the city of Fargo.
The mayor of the city of Fargo Dennis Malaker was the main spokesman for Fargo he could also be heard on the radio on KFGO where he gave information on how fast the water levels were rising and what steps were being taken to ensure the safety of the town and prevent flooding of the city (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/floods/2009-03-24-fargo-floods_N.htm). Visit this link for more in-depth information on how Fargo residents pulled together to fight the flood.

From the research I conducted from personal interviews with some residents of Fargo that resided in flooded areas another major source of information was the local stations. Here you could get first hand information on top of the hour report of rising flood levels. Also local stations aired conferences that city officials had to go over their various plans. The press asked questions here and the Mayor of Fargo Denis Malaker did not always have the answers to those questions, at moments like that he wasn’t arrogant he admitted he had no information or answers regarding that question and stepped aside for other city officials with my knowledge and information regarding that question.
Among those officials include Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney and Governor of North Dakota John Hoeven.

From taking public relations class I have learned that in a crisis situation, it is always good to have just one spokesperson so that all information being given out is in sink, there is no type miscommunication and the public does not get the wrong message. In this flood crisis I think the city of Fargo handled it well. The radio stations knew what type of information to announce, like when sand baggers were needed in the fargodome. I am going to conduct some more research to see if the city officials of Fargo were satisfied with the whole communication process during this flood crisis.

Crisis Communication Research Blog 1

The community I choose for my research paper is Fargo, ND. I choose Fargo because; this is the town that I experienced the flood the most. I witnessed firsthand the effects of the flood and how much of an impact the flood could have caused the city of Fargo if we the people of the town had not come together to fight safe our city.

Through my research I have found that the main spokesperson for the city of Fargo is the Mayor Dennis Walaker and also the Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney. Together they have done a good job in keeping the public fully updated and letting us know what necessary actions are being taken to solve the problem. The Governor of North Dakota John Hoeven was also one of the spokesmen for Fargo.There were a lot of people that were spokesmen for Fargo most times mostly speaking on specific areas that related to there are of expertise.

The most effective means of communication during this flooding period was the radio (Y94 & KFGO) this radio stations served really well and played a big part in helping update the general public. The radio stations announced when urgent help was needed to fill up sand bags and take them to their various locations. The local television stations also served as a big source of communication. Alongside local stations was the big news channel CNN, surprisingly CNN was on top of the hour with as the flood situation progressed. As a matter of fact CNN was my main source of information when I watched the news. CNN treated this crisis as firsthand as they should have; they had their correspondents here in Fargo monitoring the flood.

I plan on doing a little survey around town, to kind of see how people felt about the flood crisis and see what mode of communication was the most effective for them, and also which communication mode was the least effective for them. Also if they feel city officials in Fargo did a good job in keeping the general public updated with the flood situation.

I also plan on meeting some top city officials here in Fargo like the local sheriff to see what city officials think of the whole communication process during the flood. What mode of communication did they feel was the most effective means in getting the public involved in the efforts to fight the flood.

I decided to blog on this crisis, because I felt like everyone was going to be blogging on the recent flood crisis in Valley City, North Dakota. On April 8 a big crisis story broke out. An American captain of the container ship was taken hostage by pirates on a lifeboat. His crew had managed to recapture the ship after it was hijacked, but Capt Richard Phillips was seized by the armed pirates who had stormed the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama after a five-hour chase 400 miles north-east of the Somali capital Mogadishu. The ship attempted to out maneuver the pirates but failed.

The destroyer USS Bainbridge travelled to the lawless shipping channel off the coast of Somalia. The US warship was in sight of the ship the first with an American crew to be taken by pirates off the Horn of Africa as crew members negotiated with the pirates for the return of the captain. As dawn broke, it was not clear what the military crews would do. Options could include negotiation, backed by the threat of force. But any military action could risk the lives of the Americans, especially the captain being held hostage. This story made headlines all over the world and country, it was breaking news on all stations both television and radio stations.

What I did find very intriguing about this whole situation is the fact that people all over the world are being captured everyday in dozens and are held for ransom and all this goes unheard of. We in the United States, have no clue what is going on around us in the world. All we ever hear is when this crisis occurs with and there is an American involved then it becomes a big deal or better said a crisis situation that gets immediate attention and solution. I feel like we should be more involved in crisis situations that need urgent attention and help even if there is no American involved since we have the resources and capabilities to provide some sort of help. This crisis with the American captain involved ended with the U.S Navy snipers taken out the 3 men on the life boat that were holding the captain ransom, I feel like the attention this crisis received with just one American captured, the same kind of attention should be given with any crisis situation all around the world regardless of the nationality of those being affected.

North Dakota State University Basketball Team Headed for the Big Dance!!

On Tuesday March 10, 2009 Sioux Falls, S.D.- Ben Woodside led the NDSU Bison basketball team to victory by making a 17-foot jumper with only 3 seconds left to give North Dakota State a 66-64 win Tuesday night against Oakland University for the Summit League championship and also a berth in the NCAA tournament. NDSU trailed much of the game by 14 points in the first half and needed a rally in the final five minutes to earn an NCAA bid in its first year of Division I eligibility.Ben Woodside was not the only player that stepped up majorly for the Bison’s, Michael Tveidt's made a 3 point shot this was his fourth of the game which put the Bison ahead 64-62 with only 1:26 remaining on the clock and capped an eight-point run.

This was an indeed a very intense game, I was so into it as I watched and didn’t take my eyes off the television even for a second. Oakland tied the game with a power dunk by Keith Benson's with only 12 seconds left on the clock. After this I was really shocked that the Bison’s didn’t call a time out. In most situations like this, it’s usually a given that a timeout would be called. However rather than calling a time out, North Dakota State rushed down court very quickly, set up a screen for Woodside, who then smoothly sank a shot from the top of the key, this was so unbelievable I couldn’t contend myself I was screaming full of excitement.

There was a final attempt by Oakland’s Johnathon Jones with a long 3 point shot at the final horn which bounced out.Tveidt was the highest scoring of the game leading NDSU with 21 points. Woodside, who is the conference player of the year scored 60 in a game earlier this season, and added another 17 against Oakland.Other effective players were Erik Kangas and Will Hudson who each had 16 points, Jones added 15 and Keith Benson had 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The last 5 minutes of the game was such a big game changer because Oakland surged ahead in the first half on 63 percent shooting. The Bison’s trailed all through the game and but still won at the end. The Golden Grizzlies cooled down to 32 percent in the second half.

Judge Might Toss damning evidence against Barry Bonds

An article was published recently by the “New York Daily News” saying that the U.S. district judge Susan Illston indicated Thursday that she will exclude evidence that prosecutors say links Barry Bonds to positive drug tests, including three positive tests seized in a raid on the BALCO laboratory in 2003.According to Illston, who held an evidentiary hearing on the admissibility of evidence the government is presenting in Bonds' upcoming trial on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, the government cannot link Bonds to the tests without the testimony of Greg Anderson, who is Bonds former trainer.

The judge is expected to issue a ruling on the evidence within the next week to 10 days. Bonds lawyer Allen Ruby believes they have solid legal arguments looks forward to the court's decision on these legal matters. According to the “Daily News” Anderson, was reported last week to have been subpoenaed for the March 2nd trial.According to the article Anderson has told his attorneys that he will not testify against Bonds and is preparing to return to jail. He has already served two terms in jail on contempt charges for refusing to cooperate with the government in its pursuit of a conviction against baseball's all-time home run king. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3906484). Visit this link for some more on that story.

According to the judge "There has to be an establishment of whether the blood test was of the defendant or not," Illston during the hearing. "That is the linchpin. If there is no testimony to establish the blood samples were of the defendant, then that's that." She called the claims that the tests were Bonds' "classic hearsay." (www.nytimes.com)

Controversy surrounds the evidence seized from Anderson's home that prosecutors say link Bonds to the BALCO tests. It has been indicated that these urine samples were initially handled by Greg Anderson and thereafter by BALCO's James Valente," Conte said Thursday. The defense argue that neither of them has a degree or license that would qualify them to process such laboratory samples. These test results are identified by a number only. There is no name on these reports.
Judge Illston is also expected to rule whether a 2003 test conducted by Major League Baseball can be introduced at trial. The results of that test, which was negative under baseball's testing program, indicate that in a later retest of the sample, Bonds tested positive for THG, or "The Clear,". (nydailynews.com). To write this article a lot of research was conducted by the New York times, New York daily news, ESPN and many more. In order to ensure that the information provided in the article was accurate and up to date.

Formal Illinois State Governor Blagojevich Scandal

On December 9, 2008 Illinois state governor Mr. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested on charges of conspiracy and soliciting bribes. Under state law, Mr. Blagojevich is assigned to name a replacement for Mr. Obama, who recently resigned as Illinois’ junior senator with two years remaining in his term. The formal governor was accused of trying to sell this senate seat for cash to the highest bidder a spokesman for the governor said he denied any wrongdoing. The governor was also accused of racing to solicit millions of dollars in donations from people with state business before an ethics law bars such behavior in January, and threatening to rescind state money this fall from businesses, including a Chicago hospital for children, whose executives refused to give him money. He is also accused of putting pressure on The Chicago Tribune to fire members of its editorial board who had criticized him “www.nbcchicago.com” If this accusations turn out to be true this would be very unethical of the formal governor, who could be sent away to jail for many years if found guilty.
I read this on www.nytimes.com President Elect Obama issued a statement saying “I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening,” Mr. Obama said. “And as I said, it’s a sad day for Illinois. It’s a sad day for Illinois clearly states the sad nature of this event. In my opinion trying to sell a united state senate seat in return for cash is not only ethically wrong but also morally wrong. It is ethically wrong because by law the governor is responsible to find a well qualified candidate to fill the senate seat. This is a responsibility entrusted in his care by the state laws and not to be used to for personal financial gain.After the arrest of the governor, this was a huge scandal and tinted the image of the formal governor. To manage this scandal would need “effective scandal management”.
The governor and his team of lawyers tried to counter the entire negative image, by portraying the governor as unshaken by these allegations. The governor released a press statement saying "I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath," he said. "And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob, I am dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am," he said. I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum -- in a court of law. And when I do, I am absolutely certain that I will be vindicated," (www.chicagobreaking nes.com).
Despite all his pleas of innocence on January 29, 2009 the governor was impeached by the senate and therefore removed as the Governor of Illinois with the assistant governor being sworn in as the governor.
I think the governor played his only card right by refusing to step down as the governor of Illinois. This was the only bargaining power he had in order to maybe get a lighter sentence if he was found guilty of all charges.