As we watch the disaster unfold in the gulf around the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Obama administration is to be commended for taking swift action to respond to this disaster.  Literally within hours of notice that the offshore drilling unit had exploded, according to the deepwaterhorizonresonse.com website, the government initiated an emergency search and rescue mission, deploying two Coast Guard cutters, four helicopters and a rescue plane, and established a command center on the Gulf Coast to address the potential environmental impact and coordinate with state and local governments. And the fact that this website exists, and provides a timeline of the response to this disaster, is a huge step in the right direction.

And yet.

Even with this swift movement to get engaged, review the situation, take steps to contain the problem, set up interagency coordination and investigations, still I, as a concerned citizen, often felt out of the loop, or that not enough was being done. When I review the activities detailed on this information website, I’m impressed – a lot has been put in place not only to try to minimize the environmental damage, but also to support the small businesses and residents of the communities that are being impacted today. But I haven’t gotten that information from the constant news updates on TV or the radio, or even in the newspapers. This important information is not being conveyed to the public in a relevant and digestible manner, so many (including me) feel the government is once again not being responsive, not taking care of its citizens, talking a good line but not really taking care of the things that most need taking care of. In this situation, it seems as if perhaps the government really is doing the right things, but not communicating their message well.

Why is that? Why do the news programs focus on the dolphins that are dying instead of the 20,000 personnel working around the clock to protect the shoreline and wildlife, or the 219 SBA disaster loans helping small businesses in the Gulf Coast. Why don’t our national organizations do a better job of communicating what they’re doing, when and how, to make things better?

I believe our Federal government has a really tough time not only putting together the appropriate message, but managing the message – getting the right information to the public very rapidly and responsively, in a calm, thoughtful, reassuring manner. It doesn’t feel like they’re in charge, when they certainly should be. Part of the problem is that many of the high level national organizations don’t practice or pay attention to public messaging as part of their disaster response efforts.

When you look at many of the exercises from the major national organizations, public information plays a minimal role if any – they often don’t integrate role-playing between reporters and spokespeople, the press conferences are often canned, they don’t plan for how to deal appropriately with bad news, particularly with a lot of bad news following more bad news. And it seems as if they don’t factor in using different communication tools – press conferences for TV is vital, yes, but so are postings on twitter, radio conferences, communicating with community organizations such as religious institutions and other forums that the public uses to get its information – exploring and using all of the many communication tools that their audience uses.

 It seems it always takes longer than it should for that first message from the higher authority regarding what’s going on and what’s being done to keep the public safe. Why isn’t that step part of the first wave of response? In addition, many of the disaster recovery plans give public messaging minimal attention, if it’s included at all.  We seem to have gotten much better at understanding that we have to have a solid disaster recovery plan, and important logistics and management issues are well thought through and incorporated, but often there’s either nothing on public messaging, or a canned pre-packaged plan is thrown in, with minimal thought and attention paid to what’s needed for today’s highly interactive, news-hungry and disparate public.

A lot of good things are happening to try to minimize the horrific oil spill and disastrous environmental and business impact of what’s going on in the Gulf Coast – it’s a shame that facts about those initiatives aren’t getting out effectively. Yes, lots more needs to be done, and some things aren’t being done as efficiently or as successfully as we would wish for, but it would be nice to hear a more balanced report of what’s really going on, and what our government is doing to try to minimize the damage and take care of its citizens. For a country that thrives on communication, we need our leaders – and their organizations – to get better at delivering the information we need now – and we need to have now.

Sandy Evans Levine is president of Advice Unlimited, a public relations/marketing firm that works with high tech companies who sell to the government, and with the government directly. Founding Advice Unlimited in 1983, Ms. Levine, formerly a journalist, and her team of media relations experts have extensive experience in media crisis management and crisis communications for companies and government organizations. She brings an organized approach to dealing with problem situations, focusing on the ability to turn bad news into opportunity.  For more information visit www.adviceunlimited.net or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .