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Articles by Jody Lanard
Episode 74: Implement, Study, Learn
This week, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the state of the pandemic in the UK, Russia, and Japan, and what this could mean for the US, as well as the rise in cases in Northern US states, the new recommendations on booster doses, and communication surrounding vaccine mandates. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Subscribe on YouTube!
Mandatory COVID Vaccination (Peter Sandman column)
Millions of Americans clearly disagree with us, but we believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a no-brainer. Putting aside some pretty rare medical contraindications, we don’t know of anyone who’s eligible to get vaccinated who isn’t better off getting vaccinated. That’s true even if you’re a teenage male at heightened risk of myocarditis and minimal risk of a serious COVID case. It’s true even if you have been infected and recovered and have proof of robust antibodies.
Past time to tell the public: “It will probably go pandemic, and we should all prepare now”
Croakey is closed for summer holidays and will resume publishing in the week of 18 January 2021. In the meantime, we are re-publishing some of our top articles from 2020. This article was first published on February 24, 2020 Introduction by Croakey: As the novel coronavirus epidemic gathers pace outside of China, with cases ramping up in countries including South Korea, Italy and Iran, there is a growing consensus that we are entering a new, likely pandemic, phase of the outbreak.
The CDC's Massive Loss of Credibility Is Partly Because of the Spokespeople It Used (Peter Sandman site article)
by Jody Lanard Email (with small edits) from Jody Lanard to Washington Post reporter Lena H. Sun, September 25, 2020 (Lena H. Sun and Joel Achenbach’s article based partly on this response was posted on the Washington Post website on September 28.) Other articles on this website about Wuhan coronavirus risk communication Especially relevant articles on this website from SARS, bird flu, swine flu, etc.
Video on the Web
Part One introduces where Jody and I think crisis communication fits in risk communication (high hazard, high outrage), and then discusses the first six of our 25 crisis communication recommendations: Link off-site to page with this video Link launches an on-site audio file (49MB) Part Two (57:11) Part Two covers numbers 7 through 16 of the 25 crisis communication recommendations discussed in the video: Be willing to speculate. Don᾿t overdiagnose or overplan for panic. Don᾿t aim for zero fear.
Strange COVID-19 Bedfellows: Gnawing Anxiety and Under-Reaction
The other day, a new neighbor overheard us complaining about how slowly western governments were imposing drastic social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. He entered the conversation, saying, “It’s not as if life as we know it is ending.” He seemed a little anxious as he said it, contradicting his words. He was wrong, of course.
Quick Risk Communication Notes on
by Peter M. Sandman and Jody Lanard This was written immediately after listening to the news conference, before we had access to the transcript. So there are no quotations to document our impressions. Other articles on this website about Wuhan coronavirus risk communication Especially relevant articles on this website from SARS, bird flu, swine flu, etc.
Four COVID-19 Emails to Four Journalists
Jody Lanard and I have been fielding inquiries from reporters covering various aspects of COVID-19. We decide which ones to respond to based mostly on whether the questions they ask provoke us to want to respond. Mostly we respond with emails rather than telephone interviews.
Past time to tell the public: “It will probably go pandemic, and we should all prepare now”
Introduction by Croakey: As the novel coronavirus epidemic gathers pace outside of China, with cases ramping up in countries including South Korea, Italy and Iran, there is a growing consensus that we are entering a new, likely pandemic, phase of the outbreak. Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Brett Sutton, warned that with sustained local transmission now evident in several countries beyond China, a pandemic was now “very likely if not inevitable”.
Referral: Ian Mackay's Guest Blog By Peter Sandman & Jody Lanard
#14,926 When it comes to risk communications, Dr. Peter Sandman & Dr. Jody Lanard are the A-Team – which is why their services are sought by corporations, organizations, and agencies around the globe – often in the midst of a crisis. Their website is an invaluable repository of risk management advice, that quite frankly, should be second home for anyone involved in public relations or risk communications.
What's New on Site
2020 February 22 New Peter M. Sandman in the News Past Time to Tell the Public: “It Will Probably Go Pandemic, and We Should All Prepare Now” Email from Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman to Australian virologist Ian Mackay, February 22, 2020 (Also posted on Ian Mackay’s “Virology Down Under” blog, February 22, 2020) February 17 New Peter M.
Risk Communication about Containment --; 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Peter Sandman article)
In the run-up to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, we wrote that officials should warn their citizens that “containment” was highly likely to fail: Containment as signal: Swine flu risk miscommunication. It is very long, so in summary, here is how it applies to communicating about containment right now, regarding novel coronavirus. With the inexorable spread of 2019-nCoV, we are again upset about the way officials and reporters are talking about containment.
Zika Risk in U.S. States: Widespread or Limited? The White House Hijacks a Key CDC Message to Attack Republicans; Public Health Officials and Reporters Mostly Go Along (Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman article)
On May 27, 2016, Elizabeth Whitman of International Business Times emailed me to request a telephone interview with both me and my wife and colleague Jody Lanard about “how public health officials juggle the need to educate the public and convey a sense of urgency about the Zika virus without sending people into unnecessary panic.” We did the interview the same day.
Zika Risk in U.S. States: Widespread or Limited? The White House Hijacks a Key CDC Message to Attack Republicans; Public Health Officials and Reporters Mostly Go Along (Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman article)
On May 27, 2016, Elizabeth Whitman of International Business Times emailed me to request a telephone interview with both me and my wife and colleague Jody Lanard about “how public health officials juggle the need to educate the public and convey a sense of urgency about the Zika virus without sending people into unnecessary panic.” We did the interview the same day.
Zika Risk Communication: WHO and CDC Are Doing a Mostly Excellent Job So Far
Top U.S. public health officials have been extremely straightforward about Zika unknowns and uncertainties, calibrating their statements to convey their own levels of uncertainty to the public without overstatement or understatement, and without overconfidence. CDC is doing spectacularly good uncertainty risk communication. The goal should be to create the same level of uncertainty in the audience as in the source.
Video on the Web
This page lists all my video and audio risk communication materials – a convenient resource for people who are looking for something to play for a group, or who would rather watch and listen than read. I have a big stack of video and audio recordings – mostly of client presentations – that are not currently online. Over time, I plan to sort through these and post the ones that I think add the most value (and that don’t reveal client confidences).
Some Additional Zika Risk Communication Notes
Since February 3 when we posted our notes on “Zika Risk Communication: WHO and CDC Are Doing a Mostly Excellent Job So Far,” a few developments have prompted us to want to comment further. Rather than add more afterthought “boxes” – there are four already – we decided to create a new document with our new comments. We’re posting our first batch of such comments on February 16. We may or may not find more we consider worth adding in the weeks ahead.
COMMENTARY: When the next shoe drops - Ebola crisis communication lessons from October
Editor's note: Today's commentary was submitted to CIDRAP by the authors, who are internationally renowned experts on risk communication and crisis communication. Peter M. Sandman, PhD, originated the "Risk = Hazard + Outrage" formula for risk communication. In addition to his work on risk controversies, he speaks, writes, and consults widely on communication aspects of pandemic preparedness and other public health threats.
Pandemic and Infectious Diseases Index
Until 2003 my risk communication work only occasionally dealt with infectious disease outbreaks. Even when I got involved in the U.S. government’s response to the anthrax attacks and the possible threat of a smallpox attack, I saw myself as working on terrorism crisis communication, not infectious disease communication. Then came SARS. Working jointly with my wife, physician Jody Lanard, I started helping the World Health Organization think through its communication efforts on SARS.
Explaining and Proclaiming Uncertainty: Risk Communication Lessons from Germany’s Deadly E. coli Outbreak
Nobody likes uncertainty. Everybody on the receiving end of risk communications prefers those communications to be definitive, not tentative. But the painful truth is that the concept of “risk” is intrinsically uncertain, and risk communicators have no choice but to address the uncertainty, whether they do so well or badly. This column will concentrate on one complicated example of uncertainty communication, the severe outbreak of E.
Containment as Signal: Swine Flu Risk Miscommunication
As the pandemic H1N1 swine flu virus spreads around the world, governments face some fundamental early decisions regarding two response strategies, containment and mitigation: Should they try to “contain” the new virus in an effort to stave off the day when it will reach and infect their populace? Or should they resign themselves to the inevitability of local transmission, and focus on “mitigating” its effects?
What to Say When a Pandemic Looks Imminent: Messaging for WHO Phases Four and Five
(Page 1 of 4) In October 2005, a North Dakota public information officer sent one of us (Peter) an email, noting that she had searched this website without finding “any suggested messages for the public at the start of and through the height of” an influenza pandemic. We had written about pre-pandemic messaging – what to say now about a possible future flu pandemic. But her department was about to do a tabletop drill for an actual pandemic. What messages did we recommend?
Bird Flu, Pandemic Flu, and Poultry Markets:
Column Table of Contents We get emails almost every week from officials asking: “Is it possible to prevent the drop in poultry consumption in countries when H5N1 avian influenza arrives?” Our answer: No. Absolutely impossible. It’s as simple as that. No charge. But hardly anyone asks: “Is it possible to mitigate the drop in poultry consumption? Is it possible to speed up the recovery, to reduce the dip?” Those questions have much more hopeful answers than the first question.
Misleading toward the Truth: The U.S. Department of Agriculture Mishandles Mad Cow Risk Communication
This column will analyze the misleading, over-reassuring, “absolutely” typical PR campaign launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on December 23, 2003 after the first U.S. mad cow was found – and why it constitutes bad risk communication. In early summer of 2004, the USDA seemed to be doing a much better job of risk communication.
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