COMM102: Foundations in Corporate Communications

Group 3

Individual Mid-Term Paper

Three Phase Ebola Communication Strategy

By Chan Yi Ping Rochelle (S9304251D)

15 October 2014

Prepared for Professor Chung SiYoung

Introduction
With Singapores experience with handling SARS in 2003 and the H1N1
virus in 2009, we have gained valuable insights on the most appropriate
and ideal way of handling the crisis of having a contagious and
communicable disease on our shores. Our experience has also taught us
the importance of two critical aspects that would determine the successful
handling of this matter. These aspects are namely the importance of
establishing a great deal of trust in the government as well as ensuring
that the public is informed and knowledgeable about the issue at hand.
With these aspects in mind, there would be a three-phase plan in place on
communication for the Singapore Government. The first part would be the
initial stage where Ebola remains contained in the Western and African
countries. The second phase of the plan would kick in when Ebola enters
Asia and finally, the third and last phase would be set in place when Ebola
hits Singapore. The three-phase communication plan generally assumes
that Ebola remains a highly contagious and deadly disease with no
vaccinations available.
Additionally, it should be noted that Ebola would be determined as an
accident within the Crisis Type Matrix as it is unintentional and internal.
This therefore implies that the stakeholders such as and especially the
general public would be less likely to attribute blame and react negatively.
However,

despite

so,

we

opt

to

adopt

high

responsibility,

accommodation communication strategy. Adopting the accommodation

strategy is effective in addressing the psychological needs of the public-

and this is also the key aspect of the communication plan that we aim to
prioritise and address. From our experience with previous disease crises of
SARS and H1N1, the relevant authorities have also adopted a high
responsibility strategy and its favourable results and responses still hold
until today.

First Stage of Communication Plan

In the first stage, it is important to lay the foundation of open downward
communication with the general public. This comes in the form of full and
accessible media coverage from authorities on the current state of affairs,
news releases and newspaper notices of the background of Ebola, how is
it transmitted as well as traveling advisory against countries that are
currently undergoing Ebola outbreaks. The assurance of speed, quality
and effectiveness

of

information would

set the

stage for

future

communications undertaken by the government.

Given that Ebola remains a fatal, high alert disease with no vaccinations
available as of yet, reaction towards it would inevitably be intense and
there is certainly a climate of fear when it comes to dealing with this
disease. (Kahn, 2014) In US, this climate of fear accompanied with lack of
calculated communication from the government has resulted in wide-scale
panic and fear mongering. (Westcott, 2014) In Westcotts (2014) article,
we see that the there is general stigmatization of people traveling from
these countries and the general label of being related to Africa. To avoid
this in Singapore, communication would be done in a downward
communication structure. There will be full media coverage on the current
state of affairs reported daily through news reports on television and

newspapers. Travel advisories, vigilance when one falls ill after traveling to
affected countries and appropriate health precautions will be published on
websites. Considering the target audience of healthcare workers, travel
authorities and travelers to affected countries, this target group tends to
be more technologically savvy and the use of the Internet as a media to
reach them would be more appropriate. At this phase, it would still be
unnecessary to have these travel advisories and health precautions on
mass media such as television news reports and newspapers as there is a
high tendency to result in fear mongering. (Washer, 2004) Publications on
news reports and newspaper would also result in the onset of Agenda
Setting Theory where fears of the Ebola fear would cause panic and
disturbances in Singapore. To contain this, we thus opt to have Ebolarelated information on a non-invasive platform such as the internet and
adopt a othering strategy. This othering strategy is similar to adopting
an optimistic bias, and may be perceived as counter intuitive. However,
this othering strategy where the government portrays the Ebola spread as
unlikely to happen on our soil serves as a way to allay public anxiety and
is merely a communication strategy. In real practice, the government
ought to continue with stringent surveillance and updates on the Ebola
outbreak around the world. (Washer, 2014)

Second Stage of Communication Plan

The second phase of communication plan comes into effect once Ebola
reaches Asia. Singapore is a business hub with very high travel traffic. This
spells a very high likelihood of Ebola reaching our shores if our

neighbouring countries experience an Ebola outbreak. At this phase, our

communication

plan

would

experience

shift

from

emergency

responsiveness to preventive preparedness. This also signifies a shift from

informational

strategy

communication

to

persuasive

strategy.

The

Singapore government needs to move beyond creating awareness and

understanding of the situation at hand towards tuning the knowledge,
attitude and behavior of Singaporeans to one that is prepared for the
disease to reach our shores. (Wallis, 2005) Taking reference from the
backlash experienced in USA when the first case of Ebola went under the
radar even though the patient had already informed the healthcare
workers of his traveling history, the Singapore government must
implement stringent and precise communication of suspected cases. This
ought to be communicated via education campaigns of the general public
with the use of television advisories and Facebook notices from health
authorities. Through these advisories and notices, Singapore government
must also specify an authority and figure to be the face of this
communication strategy. That is to say that this particular figure will be
the one that the public looks towards for each status update. This
particular framing emphasizes on the social presence of media. The
provision of a figure to look towards and the use of mass media greatly
enhance the degree of facilitation, awareness and immediacy of the issue.
(Smith, 2006)

Third and Final Stage of Communication Plan

The third and final stage of the communication plan is also the most
crucial one that requires the most meticulous planning and execution. At

this stage, public anxiety would set in and we must execute careful,
calculated measures to allay public fears. Again, the fundamental
approach in this phase would be framing the communication in 3 tiers.
Firstly, there ought to be a regular daily update in place on a specific
television channel and dedicated website. The rationale for engaging the
television channel is to cater to the less tech-savvy Singaporeans who do
not regularly seek information online. For the others, information can be
readily and conveniently accessed on the dedicated website. Regular
updates on the current state of affairs, state of urgency and emergency
would be conducted on the first tier of this communication frame.
Following which, the second tier of this frame would be to provide
information on the current steps that the authorities have undertaken to
contain the spread of the disease. Such information should include the
measures taken by a variety of authorities and departments such as
immigrations authorities, transport authorities, health authorities and
governmental authorities. Having these authorities work together would
portray a high level of awareness, readiness and alertness on their part to
prevent the spread of Ebola. (Copel, 2014) The final tier of the third stage
of the communication plan would be to inform the public on the plans
ahead, and the steps and measures to take going forward- both on the
part of the relevant bodies involved as well as the general public. With this
3-tier approach, the communication plan is framed to portray and ignite a
high degree of trust in the competency of the authorities as well as a
shared responsibility of fighting the spread of Ebola in Singapore together.

Conclusion
The communication plan for Ebola is drafted based on Singapores
experience in dealing with SARS and H1N1. In general, the 3-phase
communication plan would still hold in an event of an Ebola outbreak as it
is fundamentally based on the principle of establishing high degree of
trust

in

the

government

and

keeping

Singapore

informed

and

knowledgeable of the issue at hand. The mediums for ensuring these

outcomes are also calculated and would likely to still hold true. However,
the mutation and evolution of the spread of the disease and thereby the
communication strategy is fluid in nature and would require constant
refining.

References
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Available at:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/12/examining-thenations-ebola-response/17059283/
Gingrich, N. (2014) Obama administration must answer Ebola questions.
[Online]. Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/09/opinion/gingrichebola-questions/
Kahn, P. (2014) Ebola scare revives post-9/11 public fears [Online].
Available at: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/10/ebolaterrorism-fearnationalsecurity.html
Owens, M. (2014). Infected Dallas nurse IDd; gets transfusion from Ebola
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8fd
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c3

Westcott, L. (2014). U.S. Public Response to Ebola could echo early days of
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