Knowing your audience and Communication Release

Knowing your audience and Communication Release

Introduction

Before one decides to communicate information to the public, it is important to note that in today's world of communication, general public no longer exists. The communication releases should be audience targeted; the key strategy is to identify the audience, their roles and needs, and how the message is to be delivered to achieve the intended purpose (Tennyson & Ray, 2005).

The Chilean Copper Mine Collapse

The people in the audience and the key considerations

The main people in the audience are the miners' families and their co-workers. It is important to consider the right tone and wording to use when communicating the information (Tennyson & Ray, 2005). The family members are very close to the miners and they will tend to be emotional. The employees will also be shaken because if it were under different circumstances it could have been them trapped in the mine.

Potential needs of the families

Family members require more details about accidents that befall their relatives while at work (Tennyson and Ray, 2005). They will need to know the exact time the incident took place, persons trapped in the mine, rescue measures being taken to save the victims and what is being done to help them as they wait to be saved. They will also need to be updated from time to time on the developments of the rescue process, how they can get access to the miners upon rescue and above all they will need to be assured that all necessary procedures are being taken to ensure the miners are rescued safe and sound.

Potential needs of the employees

Since the employees are accustomed to the operations of the mine the communication will have to be concise and done formally. They will need a quick update of the incident and what the company is doing to rescue them and they will also need to be assured that the other mines are not at risk of collapsing when they resume mining (Bajak, 2010).

Actions to be taken before and after communicating the message

Before making the communication release it is best to consider the best channel for communicating the message to both audiences (Tennyson & Ray, 2005). For the families , it is best done through the media more specifically television for the sake of the family members who are likely to be estranged and may become uncontrollable if they were to come face ...