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.