In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I just read about a good idea that the government of Singapore has had about briefing members of the blogsphere in advance of emergencies. According to an article in Channel News Asia headlined “Bloggers, moderators can help ease public fears in crisis”:

The Internet has made possible the rapid spread of fear in a crisis, said Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng. But he said bloggers and website moderators can help ease public concerns should a terrorist attack occur.

The article notes that since October 2007, bloggers have been invited to the Home Team Academy and the Civil Defence Academy to get preparedness briefings.

On the ground, Mr Wong said grassroots networks are also important. Their roles include ensuring adequate emergency response plans within each constituency and training community leaders to cope with crises…Mr Wong said: “We will not know for certain if all that we have done or are doing will work in a real crisis. We may well fail. But we must do our best to work out practical response plans and exercise them in a realistic way with the players who will be the mobilisers and participants in a real situation. If we do not, we will fail.”

Government officials here in the U.S. have held briefings for journalists to discuss crisis situations. However, there has not been as much outreach to bloggers and other members of the blogosphere for that purpose, and I think it is time think about doing so.