How will COVID-19 impact communicators in 2022?
Posted on Mar. 3, 2022 / Professional Development / Subscribe 0
Written by Zoey Leipsic, volunteer for PRSA Phoenix
March 2022 marks two years of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. PRSA Phoenix hosted a virtual lunchtime panel to discuss predictions, best practices, and challenges as we enter the third year of the pandemic. Diane Smith, PR and Communications Manager at Pima Medical Institute, moderated the discussion.
Panelists:
- Garrett Archer, data analyst, ABC15 Arizona
- Will Humble, executive director, Arizona Public Health Association
- Greg Taylor, regional VP of community affairs, Arizona Complete Health
- Rapheal Begay, public information officer, Navajo Nation
- Stephanie Innes, health reporter, The Arizona Republic, azcentral.com, La Voz
Communicators’ Roles in the Pandemic
Greg Taylor stated his job focuses on community health and trying to make sure that health departments across the state have what they need. His main mission is to see how Arizona Complete Health can help them be better prepared to serve for the last two years of the pandemic.
Rapheal Begay contributes to the health command center, communicated public health information to employees to help limit the spread of the virus on the Navajo Nation.
Will Humble says the pandemic put his organization on the map and at the beginning of the pandemic he was getting calls from journalists to go on forum. Will wanted to make sure he was a source of quality public health information.
Garrett Archer states that there are so many ways that data sets can be manipulated just by looking at one variable. The truth is data changes from day to day.
Stephanie Innes reports on Covid-19 every day. She shares that fact checking is critical to the ever-evolving data surrounding public health.
Using Social Media to Communicate about Public Health
Greg states that social media cannot be the only source. He says there needs to be interpersonal communication as well as working to build relationships based on trust.
Rapheal says that in his community social media is the only way that they get information when they do a town hall. His reservation lacks a news station, so he emphasizes that the Navajo Department of Health has seen positive results by using social media.
Healthcare Stories Moving Forward
Stephanie states that email is the best way to contact her to offer a story about health, COVID-related or not. She will go back and see what someone wrote to her relating to that topic and it will give her ideas for future stories.
Garrett says COVID-19 case count reporting isn’t going anywhere quite yet. He receives a lot of pitches through social media and a pitch to his email will often get passed onto another ABC-15 reporter.
The State of In-Person Events
Greg was 100% remote, they had to transition everyone remotely in just three days and once they started bringing people back, they had to be a lot more flexible. Most of their work, he notes, can be done without being in person.
Garrett notes that there’s a lot more flexibility with interviewing because of zoom. The pool of interviewees they can go with is more significant because they are not limited by geography.
Lessons Learned
Rapheal says that he learned so much and gained respect for community members. His values that guide day-to-day life strengthened and he believes that he is a server for his people.
If Stephanie time traveled back to March 2020, she would have told herself to ask more questions as well as tell the public that things will continue to evolve.
Lastly, Garrett has learned to be prepared for commentary from the alternative news media, he’s better at anticipating controversies and conspiracies.
The panel has a lot to say about their experience in their organization during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still not over.
Watch a recap of this webinar. Chapter members, click here for free access. Non-members, click here to purchase.
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