After my appearance last night on Firefighter Netcast, which I thoroughly enjoyed I sat down to recap exactly what my responsibilities are as a PIO. We touched on a number of the areas last night.
1. Liaison. As a PIO, a large part of my responsibilities lie in being the go-to, in-between person. Whether that be between the Chiefs office and the media or officers to their members I need to be well informed, honest, and aware of both sides’ needs.
2. Supervisor/Director. This doesn’t necessarily mean the supervising of others but more that a PIO needs to supervise, direct, and assist in the preparation of media materials, press kits, and multimedia and other presentation materials. Delegating responsibilities may very well be a part of this role, however, but this is more aimed at the supervision of activities such as editing, writing, and distributing things like white papers, press releases, case studies, speeches, etc.
Furthermore, as PIO I need to be the supervisor of the Departments public image online and offline.
3. Media relations manager. In addition to being a liaison for the media, I also need to create and maintain relations with the media. Media relations involves the communicating with, pitching to, and understanding of media professionals. They have needs and goals to meet as a part of their media role, and I have to understand those goals.
4. Community relations manager. Crisis management is becoming more and more the role of a PIO, and much of this can stem from the Departments every day interaction with the public, elected officials and the media. The key here is to respond transparently and promptly, as that is the basis for successful public interaction. I also use these opportunities to not only help in the diffusing of a potential crisis but to also provide more value for the Department by looking for positive opening to expose.
5. Advisor. As the PIO, I often assist in the preparation of Chiefs and officers for events, speeches, interviews etc. My job is to ensure they know what to say, when to say it, and how to carry themselves. I advise them on how to answer questions and how to interact with the media.
6. Scene Liaison. As PIO I shuttle between incident command and the homeowner or business owner whose property has been damaged. I try to keep them as up to date on the progress that is being made on the fireground and how we are conducting our operation. Obviously on scene media management is probably the least frequent but most crucial job a PIO performs.
Also on The Fire PIO…
- Press Conference Tips – February 10, 2010
- Watching My Own Back – August 2, 2010
- Buzz Words and Phrases Invade the World of Public Safety – April 22, 2010
- When to Pull the Trigger – Response to an Automatic Alarm – March 23, 2010
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