wow, what a retarded idea this was.

On Tuesday, FEMA, fresh on the heels of its bang-up job in the CA wildfires (or rather, right in the middle of a "at least it's better than Katrina reaction" to the fires), decides to call a press conference. They were in a real hurry to get the good news out, so they only gave reporters 15 minutes notice to get to the conference with the FEMA Deputy Director, Harvey Johnson.
As a courtesy, since the conference was such short notice, they provided an 800 number for reporters to call and join in.

When the reporters called in, they found it was listen-only, but they could at least hear the press conference and hear what other reporters were presumably asking Johnson.

..... but there were no reporters asking Johnson any questions. All the questions were scripted and were asked by FEMA employees. It was on live TV, and audience and the real reporters listening in thought they were watching a real news conference, not a circle jerk of self-congratulating FEMA plants.

jesus, WTF would give the deputy director of a major government office the thought that this was a good idea? What the hell is wrong with these people!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gaRIQb-KAAib21U9us628_gmg9lwD8SH1QN00

the White House has officially admonished the stunt. So.... i guess we can expect Johnson to get a medal of freedom now or something
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gaRIQb-KAAib21U9us628_gmg9lwD8SH510O1

10/26/2007 7:16:47 PM

Stupid, insincere, and the wrong course of action for an agency trying to restore its image in the public. What better way to blow whatever points you may have scored in handling the CA wildfires.

10/26/2007 7:19:22 PM

guys, the govt clearly does the job better, cheaper, and more efficient. It will be almost magical when they take over healthcare fully. Enjoy

10/26/2007 8:00:42 PM

Quote :

"the govt clearly does the job better, cheaper, and more efficient"

don't turn this into that argument. these guys being douchebag idiots has nothing to do with them not being cheaper or more efficient or whatever.

10/26/2007 8:28:46 PM

^keep telling yourself that

10/26/2007 8:54:48 PM

heckuva job, Brownie. Heckuva job.

10/26/2007 10:49:08 PM

yes... because no director/CEO in the private sector has ever been dishonest or deceived the public

10/26/2007 11:40:23 PM

^
When is a CEO going to have the power to decide if you get an operation or not?

When is a CEO going to tell you that you have a "duty to die" when your health-care gets too expensive?

When is a CEO going to keep sucking your money away and then start rationing your medicine?

When is a CEO going to have the legal power of force to throw you in prison if you seek outside medical help outside of the system?


...a "listen-only" press conference? Sounds like something out of "Brave New World"

10/27/2007 12:35:24 AM

the country is becoming less democratic every day

10/27/2007 12:48:03 AM

To see this from FEMA's perspective:

They want a press conference immediately, and yet there would be no reporters to show up within the 15 minutes that they apparently stipulated. The solution? Use your employees as reporters, write them some simple questions, and distribute the tape to the press as needed. Problem solved.

That said, this was an absolutely terrible idea. Completely awful from a public relations standpoint.

My question, though, is this: Why the HELL does FEMA even have a public relations department?
They are a disaster response organization, and it's a complete waste of resources and personnel to even be addressing the public! I can understand needing a team/department to coordinate with police and firefighters, and a guy at a desk to send out emails basically consisting of "Hey, a [disaster] just happened in [someplace]. We're on it and will have the problem solved as quickly as possible. Thanks, FEMA", but anything very far beyond that is unnecessary. Of course I guess anything associated with the government now needs to have a PR department, nevermind the uselessness and inefficiency.

10/27/2007 4:16:03 AM

Quote :

"Why the HELL does FEMA even have a public relations department?"

Actually, if any agency needed a good PR department, it would have to be FEMA. When a disaster strikes and all hell breaks loose, you don't just want to send out an email saying, "Hey, disaster happened. Don't worry, we'll fix it. Just sit tight. Love, FEMA." Instead, you need a team that can constantly keep the public updated on every emerging detail and more importantly, keep people calm, cooperative, and from panicking and making a bad situation worse. Someone also needs to handle the media because you know those reporters are going to be swarming FEMA the moment any disaster strikes.

That being said, I think FEMA really needs to do a better job recruiting.

10/27/2007 5:22:45 AM

Way to look for the bad news, "Claire." GG.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y838vto6los

10/27/2007 6:24:26 AM

What does that link have to do with FEMA's 'news' conference?

10/27/2007 7:04:11 AM

Quote :

"Way to look for the bad news, 'Claire.' GG. "

^ You can read, yes? STFU.

10/27/2007 7:05:57 AM

Quote :

"What does that link have to do with FEMA's 'news' conference?"

^ You can read, yes? Then answer the fucking question.

10/27/2007 7:09:53 AM

^ I already did.

10/27/2007 7:25:10 AM

No, you didn't.

10/27/2007 7:26:21 AM

^ Yes, I did--I can't help your inability to take meaning from context. I'm done with you.

10/27/2007 7:28:12 AM

Is it my inability to take meaning from context?

or

Is it your inability to have any meaning in the first place?


I'm really leaning towards the latter.

10/27/2007 7:30:50 AM

^

Quote :

"I'm really leaning towards the latter left."

10/27/2007 7:36:21 AM

If you mean left of you, then yes, I lean left.

If you mean Democrat, then no, I don't.


BTW, you still haven't explicitly answered the question.

Quote :

"What does that link have to do with FEMA's 'news' conference?"

10/27/2007 7:45:34 AM

^

10/27/2007 7:57:16 AM

Good job not defending your point.

10/27/2007 7:59:33 AM

^


Good job being a troll, troll.

10/27/2007 8:00:53 AM

Quote :

"To see this from FEMA's perspective: They want a press conference immediately, and yet there would be no reporters to show up within the 15 minutes that they apparently stipulated. The solution? Use your employees as reporters, write them some simple questions, and distribute the tape to the press as needed. Problem solved."

no, that's not from "FEMA's perspective". They didn't "need" to hold a press conference on 15 minutes notice. It's obvious that it was part the plan to call an emergency, last-minute conference that no reporter would have time to attend. Seriously, if they needed to hold a press conference quickly, they could have 1) given at least 1 hours notice, which would have greatly helped reporters make it, 2) still held a phone-in press conference, but don't make it listen-only for reporters who call in, or 3) just issue a 'statement' or a Press Release instead of a conference. It would be perfectly acceptable for them to issue a press release with a bulleted list of what they thought they were doing right. Everybody knows that self-issued press releases are biased and contain spin. The point of a Q & A with reporters is to force then to address questions and issues that they wouldn't volunteer on their own.

Quote :

"Why the HELL does FEMA even have a public relations department?"

Like RedGuard said, it is very important for FEMA in particular to have a good PR department. A huge part of dealing with disasters is trying to calm the public and reassure them that things are under control and everything will be OK. This is why Rudy Gulianni got so popular after 9/11. It's been reported since then that his actual disaster management after 9/11 was not that great, but he spent a lot of time in front of the camera and New Yorkers and the rest of the country felt like he was really in charge and it had a calming effect. Sometimes good PR is the one thing you need to to prevent an already bad situation from devolving into panic or riots.

10/27/2007 9:18:30 AM

Quote :

"hooksaw : Way to look for the bad news, "Claire." GG."

that's an interesting video, and you can definitely see how much a difference it makes to have a media-savvy political official. Conan the Governator is pretty badass. I can see why he has such widespread support.

what he said, a lot of it is probably true. It definitely appears that the State of California was much better prepared for a natural disaster than Louisiana. the reasons for this are probably complex and should certainly be studied at all levels of public administration and crisis management.

but leaving all of that aside....

Do you think that news reporters should refrain from asking tough questions?

Maybe they should just pitch the government's own talking points back to them in some sort of backslapping lovefest?

Or should they follow up on legitimate complaints (even if only from a minority), and try and force the government officials to be accountable?

tell me.





[Edited on October 27, 2007 at 7:23 PM. Reason : ]

10/27/2007 7:19:59 PM

Damn you, joe_schmoe!

I was hoping that hooksaw would actually assert his own point, but instead you've given it to him.

10/27/2007 7:36:50 PM

hooksaw is craftier than many give him credit for.

the troll/rolly/moonbat/foamie thing is played out though. i just want to cut to the chase.

10/27/2007 7:42:32 PM

Yeah, he's crafty.


In an arts and crafts sort of way.


Cutting, pasting, that kind of stuff.


Maybe he'll make an outlined hand turkey for Thanksgiving.

10/27/2007 7:45:03 PM

"arts and crafts"

heheh

10/28/2007 5:07:34 PM

Quote :

"Newsflash: FEMA is still run by idiots "

It's a government agency. What did you expect?

10/29/2007 2:22:24 PM