A 'Loaded' Week

This week, my crisis management skills came into practice when several incidents occurred at public schools in regional Western Australia. The first incident involved gun shots fired near school grounds and snowballed into a ‘gunman on the loose’. Naturally, journalists had a hey-day with this information and our phones were ringing off the hook. The Media Team are clearly well-trained and equipped to deal with these kinds of incidents as they all remained calm and answered journalist’s questions with a statement from the principal and a prepared paragraph stating the children’s safety was paramount and they were kept indoors as a precaution. No gunman was on the loose at all and the students were never in danger, but I witnessed firsthand how the media deal with these kinds of incidents and how easily they are blown out of proportion. The second incident involved a little boy bringing a hand-gun to school to show his mates just how cool it was, but unfortunately the media got a hold of this information and the Media Team were sent into overdrive explaining to a multitude of journalists that the gun was not loaded and the little boy did not understand the gravity of his actions. The third incident surrounded a young woman posting a picture on Instagram of her holding a machine gun in Syria. Yes, you heard right, a machine gun in Syria.

These things happen often in public schools as students, teachers and parents can all be quite unpredictable with the things they say and do, particularly nowadays with the invent of social media. The Media Team are always on their toes and I've ultimately learnt a crucial lesson in crisis management - always remain calm, and always have a plan in place to implement immediately. The team appeared to have holding statements prepared and there was a constant flow of communication from the executives through to our team and the schools. There is absolutely nothing worse than an organisation who are fumbling and unprepared.

I truly thought my internship would be mundane and depicted the public relations role as tedious and routine, but I’ve come to realise the role is ever-changing, all-encompassing and can be quite exciting and unexpected at times!

I attended a meeting with the Department’s creative agency and had a hand in designing resource posters and the new Parent and Children Centres website. It was certainly a good experience to interact with the graphic designers and see the types of things the Public Relations Team outsource.

I’m attending a Women in Media event tonight, along with my colleagues, titled Crossing the Line; reporting fairly on transgender issues. Should be incredibly interesting and can’t wait to let you all know what I’ve learnt. It is my first networking event and there’s the opportunity to meet people in the industry and make contacts! See how I go.

Until next time!