The next scheduled workshop in a series of events to promote understanding among the news media, government officials and representatives of the science and technological community about how each responds to a crisis and the sharing of information during a terrorist threat will be held Oct. 4 in Seattle.
Sponsored by the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Academies, the series of workshops began Aug. 11, 2004, in Chicago. Since then, workshops have been held in 10 other locations to promote a real-world understanding of how each group responds to a crisis.
The workshops include the playing out of a terrorist scenario to illustrate how key participants respond. They also explore specific terror threats and the resulting medical, scientific and public safety issues. Participants also discuss the difficulties of getting the public timely, accurate information in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.
For more information on the Seattle workshop, visit: www.rtnda.org/training/newsandterrorism.shtml.
Other industry resources available to help prepare for a terror incident include:
- The RTNDA’s crisis coverage phone list template: www.rtnda.org/about/crisis.pdf;
- The RTNDA’s 50 questions to prepare for coverage: www.rtnda.org/about/questions.pdf;
- The Media Security and Reliability Council (MSRC) Disaster Recovery Guide: www.mstv.org/docs/msrcrecov.pdf;
- The MSRC Emergency Guide: www.mstv.org/docs/msrc.reports.pdf.
