What the Red Cross Can Teach Local TV Stations

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Being in the business of communication with a broad audience, we at CJ&N know the importance of making a connection. We know how important it is to reach through and become relevant to those looking to local TV news for information.

Never does this become more important than when others are in need. The earthquake and devastation in Haiti, as with other tragic events, unites the people of the world as just that -- people. Human beings who care about each other and want to find a way to help.

This week, the Red Cross found a way to help connect people in need with the people who want to help, and there is a valuable lesson to be learned by local broadcasters in how they did it. The Red Cross has great clarity of:

• Mission: The mission of the American Red Cross is crystal clear. It says, in part: "...(We) will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies..."  Knowing their purpose keeps them focused on what they do best.
• Goal: In any disaster, the Red Cross sets immediately into motion. They know the importance of timeliness in getting to the scene with supplies and help. They mobilize quickly and efficiently to get people the help they need.
• Execution: Their mission and goal combine to create a fast, easy system for connecting people in today's communication-driven environment. Using any mobile device and texting the word Haiti to 90999, people can donate $10 to the relief efforts and affect a tragic situation in another part of the world. It's a manageable amount for just about anyone, and the Red Cross connected it to something most of us do everyday - use our mobiles and text. In other words, they made it easy.

Can the same be said about your efforts to reach out to your audience?

1. Do you have a crystal clear mission - beyond your slogan or tag line - that everyone in your employ can easily say and understand? Does everyone understand the importance of your mission?
2. Do you know what goal you're trying to achieve every day beyond delivering the news?
3. Do you continually assess the environment in which you're communicating to your audience and refine the way you do it... making it easy for the audience to connect to you? Does everyone on staff recognize the importance of immediacy?

The lesson is to constantly reevaluate how you communicate with your viewers. The tried-and-true ways may not always be the best ways as new situations demand greater creativity and flexibility. The Red Cross knows this and showed how it's possible (and critical) to think creatively and implement quickly when it's most necessary.

See for yourself how it works. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross or any legitimate relief organization to help those struggling to survive in Haiti.

- Jill Johnson