“Media and Emergency Response” To Be Focus Of Honolulu Community Media Council Panel

The Honolulu Community Media Council has scheduled a lunch meeting on February 27 open to the public that will feature a panel discussion on “Media and Emergency Response.”

The event will begin at 11:30 in the hotel’s Carnation Room, followed by lunch and the program, which will conclude at 1:30. The lunch’s cost is $20; reservations can be made until February 23 by calling Veronica at 596-2121. (Tell her you read about the luncheon here at CHORE.)

HCMC president Chris Conybeare said the panel will examine the difficulties experienced by government and the media on October 15th after two strong earthquakes rattled the state and prompted a major power outage on Oahu. At one point, 70 percent of the state’s broadcast stations were off the air, which restricted the flow of emergency information to the public.

Conybeare said the panel also will discuss measures taken since Earthquake Sunday to strengthen media operations and improve the chain of emergency communications from State Civil Defense and other authorities to the public.

Panelists confirmed as participants include Mark Platte, editor of The Honolulu Advertiser; Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager of seven Honolulu radio stations owned by Clear Channel; Michael Titterton, general manager of Hawaii Public Radio; Marsha Weinert, the State Administration’s liaison to the visitor industry and co-chair of the Comprehensive Communications Review Committee that proposed communications improvements after the October 15th earthquakes, and CHORE's writer.

State Civil Defense has been invited to send a representative and participate in the panel discussion.

Disaster Preparedness Hearings

Elsewhere, legislative hearings have begun on improving disaster preparedness. HB 1006 was the focus this afternoon; it proposes establishing the Office of the Director of Disaster Preparedness and a Disaster Preparedness Commission to develop a disaster preparedness plan for Hawaii that includes the identification of hazards and hazard impact zones; disaster mitigation policies, requirements, and incentives; and best responses. The intent seems to be to impose an additional level of oversight above State Civil Defense to improve responsiveness over what was experienced in October.

If the daily papers fail to cover this bill's provisions, we’ll summarize them later.