Crisis Communication Project Part 2

I've begun my research, and have done some interviewing among citizens in and around Valley City. I thought talking to people outside of the town, who likely had some connections to Valley City, was interesting and will prove to be an essential part of my report. Some say they didn't have radio signal and internet access, so they felt out of the loop. Also, the local TV station, the Replay Channel, was not available to those outside the area. Despite all of this, I think it was most important to focus on the communication among the citizens in Valley City.

Another trend I've noticed is that internet sources go beyond news sites. Twitter and Facebook, two social networking sites, were also very popular, especially among the younger population. Valley News Live had Twitter updates constantly about the Fargo flood, and when the Sheyenne in Valley City started to reach its crest, Valley News Live wrote small updates about the situation followed by a Tiny Url.

I haven't begun analyzing the one medium I chose, which is the radio, but I will bet that it was accurate and featured constant updates. From the interviewing I have done, I have realized that the radio was probably the most popular medium regardless of age. I used the radio often because it was all localized. But when I didn't have access to the radio, I usually checked online later at NewsDakota. I also appreciated the interviews the radio had with the mayor and other city officials. That was also important when the sewer broke.

I will continue researching the radio and also compare my observations with that of the article about the flood in Grand Forks in 1997. I'm assuming that the crisis communicaiton will have advanced much since then, especially with the growth of the internet and social media.