Asian governments need crises spokespeople

Business Asia, June, 2003 by Peter Charlton

One thing is obvious from the recent spate of world crises, and that is the importance of calmed reasoned voices being heard above the hyperbole.

Clearly many of these events are deeply traumatic to society, and it is the media's role to pick up that trauma and report it honestly. But like all things with the media, a balance is needed. When balance is absent, many of the problems become more intense.

And so it is with SARS. It is a serious virus with a high mortality rate for a Corona Virus. But the lack of reasoned statements and debate emanating from the early sources of SARS--namely Toronto, Hong Kong and Singapore--allowed global media to become very agitated. They relied on the WHO announcements, with no balance or reply from the source cities.

I sat through an outstanding presentation by Dr Victor Fung in Tokyo on Hong Kong's experience with SARS and what was being learnt, and I wondered aloud how excellent it would have been if, at the start of the saga, Victor's reasoned statements and judgements had been broadcast through the media to the community. Victor put a balanced perspective on the extended duration and difficulties of SARS, high-lighting that the emergence of someone like Victor in Toronto or Hong Kong or Singapore in the very early days may have prevented the economic carnage that resulted from enormous speculation and nervousness.

In my opinion, SARS developed an aura greater than AIDS and was seen as the next huge plague to afflict the world. While serious and deadly, it is it is not plague like, and science moved very quickly to isolate the virus, locate it and therefore start the road to control and remedy. An amazing performance, but totally under-reported.

If the global infrastructure is to work--including airlines, hotels, companies, businesses, and people--governments must embrace not only crisis management but also spokespeople to quickly and honestly talk about the degree of the problem and the remedies at hand.

China has learnt a serious lesson from this. But so too have so-called western cities Singapore, Hong Kong and Toronto too.

Each Asia-wide government should appoint a senior official in charge of public communication during complex emergencies. They should report with truth and candour, but also with hope and expectation, on the technical side of the issue, not just the political.

Let me know your thoughts. E-mail me on peter@charlton.com.au. I'd like to print constructive suggestions for how we can better our global communications during complex emergencies.