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15 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 Todd McGee said that reflected the power of the Internet— it is important for <br /> 3 commissioners to be aware that is out there, as bloggers may not be following the <br /> 4 ethical rules of journalism. He said that a consideration for commissioners is how they <br /> 5 will treat bloggers. Will they treat them as regular media, providing them with media <br /> 6 packets or a seat in a designated media area. They cannot control what they write, but <br /> 7 if you have a good communication plan in place, you can respond a lot more quickly to <br /> 8 any misinformation they may put out. <br /> 9 <br /> 10 Todd McGee referred to the top slide on page 4 of the handout which shows a bar graph <br /> 11 regarding all county responses to the question "who on your staff is/are responsible for <br /> 12 media relations and communications with the public?" Todd McGee noted that only <br /> 13 about 25% of counties have a dedicated Public Information Officer (PIO) position. <br /> 14 Almost half cite the county manager/administrator as having media/communications <br /> 15 responsibilities. <br /> 16 <br /> 17 The bottom slide on page 4 of the handout shows responses to the same question for <br /> 18 counties in Orange County's population size range. In this group, nearly 60% have a <br /> 19 dedicated PIO position, and less than 40% rely on the manager/administrator for this <br /> 20 function. <br /> 21 <br /> 22 Todd McGee said that with regard to news releases, he believes in a philosophy of"less <br /> 23 is more". If you send out press releases on every issue, he believes that decreases the <br /> 24 likelihood that media will read what you send out. If you limit it to really important things, <br /> 25 they may pay more attention. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 Todd McGee said the Knight Foundation did a white paper on "what is needed to have <br /> 28 an effective communications environment". The slide at the top of page 7 of the <br /> 29 handout provides the following list of eight essential elements: <br /> 30 <br /> 31 • Government information available online <br /> 32 • Commitment to transparency <br /> 33 • Quality local journalism <br /> 34 • Opportunities for citizens <br /> 35 • Public library <br /> 36 • Ready access to critical community information <br /> 37 • Wired local schools <br /> 38 • High-speed Internet access <br /> 39 <br /> 40 Todd McGee said he believes the environment in Orange County is ripe to succeed with <br /> 41 a communications plan. <br /> 42 <br /> 43 Todd McGee said that a few months ago NACIO did a webinar for members that walked <br /> 44 them through writing a communications plan. He said his slides at the bottom of page 7 <br /> 45 and on page 8 of the handout borrow liberally from what was shared: <br /> 46 <br /> 47 • Take stock of internal elements <br /> 48 — County Mission Statement <br /> 49 — Existing Communications Plan <br /> 50 — Board's adopted goals/strategic vision <br /> 51 — Existing Communications Policies (social media) <br /> 52 — Crisis Communications Plan <br /> 53 — Existing Communications Channels <br /> 54 <br />