First, intervene in advance, so that the mainstream view of the government becomes the dominant public opinion.
Because the production cycle of traditional mainstream media such as newspapers and TV stations is relatively long, the official handling of emergencies generally follows the principle of "golden 24 hours", that is, authoritative news is released through mainstream media within 24 hours of emergencies. The traditional "golden 24-hour" way to deal with emergencies has been overwhelming, but the new media represented by forums, post bars, Weibo and WeChat can quickly generate public opinion and spread it quickly. In this regard, public opinion monitoring Office of People's Daily Online put forward the theory of "golden four-hour media" according to the law of the generation and development of public opinion in emergencies, that is, within four hours of the incident, new media platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, BBS forum and QQ group were used to release information timely and effectively, and these "golden four-hour media" were used for crisis public relations. On the one hand, government departments need to coordinate their work, clarify the truth, organize written language and complete information release; On the other hand, crisis public relations in this period can control the spread and fermentation of events in a short time and avoid developing into major public opinion events.
Because new media information has the characteristics of low publishing threshold, fast dissemination and virtual environment, in recent years, many emergencies and hot events are published on new media platforms, and the dissemination speed is very fast. Judging from the law of public opinion generation, in the first few hours of emergencies, the opinions presented were diverse and weak, and there was no unified or opinion-led public opinion. But after several hours of fermentation, once opinion-oriented or opinion leaders dominate, it is easy to influence the direction of public opinion. Therefore, to a certain extent, when an emergency happens, instead of waiting for it to ferment on its own and eventually develop into a storm of public opinion, it is better to intervene as early as possible and let the mainstream opinions of the government become dominated by public opinion.
Both the government and the mainstream media should make full use of the "golden four-hour" communication advantage of new media to make it an important communication channel for the public to understand the development process of emergencies. This can not only meet the audience's demand for information at the first time, but also be conducive to social stability and proper handling of events.
Second, release news in time to avoid a "vacuum period" in information dissemination.
With the wide application of new media platforms such as mobile phones and the Internet, the public's awareness of participation is getting stronger and stronger. Weibo, WeChat, Microvision and other "three micro" information are overwhelming, gradually forming a powerful "folk public opinion field". In the process of information dissemination, both new media and traditional mainstream media have the obligation to objectively choose the information content to be released. This objective and effective choice, on the one hand, should protect the rights and interests of the party, the state and the people from damage; On the other hand, it is necessary to comprehensively consider, satisfy the public's basic right to know, and avoid secondary public opinion disasters.
Especially for those emergencies involving the safety of people's lives and property, the government's new media and mainstream media should take care of the overall situation, uphold humanistic care, and assume their social responsibilities from the perspective of humanization. This kind of information release form of media integration is not only the concrete embodiment of a high sense of social responsibility, but also the social responsibility that must be undertaken to deal with major public opinion events. At the same time, in the face of emergencies, the government and traditional mainstream media should first adopt an objective and fair attitude. The government and mainstream media use the new media platform to release real information for the first time, which can avoid the "vacuum period" in the process of information dissemination and prevent rumors from breeding. From the perspective of benefiting people's peace of mind, social stability and proper handling of events, it can effectively block the space for rumors to spread, prevent irrational and discordant noises that intentionally harm the interests of the public and the state, and purify the public opinion environment.
Third, strengthen the integration and cooperation among the government, mainstream media and new media.
The traditional mainstream media is good at in-depth news reporting, and is the narrator of news events, the interpreter of national policies and regulations, and the guide of mainstream public opinion. Its information dissemination has always been regarded as the most authoritative and influential. For the crisis public relations of unexpected events, we should not only rely on the information release of government websites, but also cooperate with traditional mainstream media such as newspapers, radio and television, especially with mainstream news websites.
At the same time, we should also strengthen the sharing of information resources with other portals. Government websites and mainstream media have unparalleled publicity advantages in authoritative release of event information and correct guidance of public opinion, and the public has a strong sense of identity in their information dissemination. The dominant resource of new media lies in its collection and monitoring of public opinion, and the new media network has become an important source of public opinion generation. The government can collect relevant information from blogs, forums, post bars, Weibo, WeChat and other new media at the first time, extract public opinion keywords related to emergencies, conduct correct analysis, research and screening, conduct dynamic tracking, deal with problems in time through the communication platform of new media, and spread correct public opinion guidance through various means and channels.
Fourth, actively report the process and progress of the incident with an equal but rigorous attitude.
Because many people lack the necessary understanding and response measures in the face of emergencies, any trouble may trigger public mood fluctuations. Therefore, it is very important for the government to strengthen public opinion guidance and psychological counseling. When the government and mainstream media publish and report major public opinion events, they should not only timely and accurately convey the latest progress of the events to the public, but also scientifically interpret the root causes of the public opinion events. Through the scientific interpretation of the new government media and the live reports of the mainstream media, we can guide the public to look at the incident itself scientifically and rationally.
For example, after the stampede on Shanghai Bund on February 3, 20 14, many media, including new media, paid all-round attention to and reported the incident. Some government websites, news websites and mainstream media not only reported the latest progress of the incident continuously, but also combed and summarized all kinds of trampling incidents that occurred in recent years in various parts of the country from the aspects of leadership awareness, information release, urban management, risk assessment, safety responsibility and public safety, and put forward problems and made reflections. More importantly, some experts and social professionals were invited to conduct in-depth analysis to inform the public how to deal with such emergencies. This painful form of information release and in-depth reporting not only timely and objectively reported the incident, but also fully respected the public's right to know. Through scientific interpretation and media guidance, the government was urged to establish an effective management responsibility mechanism to avoid such incidents from happening again.
After experiencing some major public opinion events, governments at all levels in China have learned some lessons and accumulated some practical experience in releasing news, dealing with public opinion events urgently and guiding the public. In the process of calming down the incident and guiding public opinion, the imprecision and minor mistakes of the official language may cause public disgust and the spread of bad emotions. When publishing and reporting information about major public opinion events, the new government media and traditional mainstream media, in what tone, form and posture, timely and accurately convey the latest progress of events to the public, grasp the rigor of language and the accuracy of wording, and tell the public the truth through the dissemination of new government media and the live reports of mainstream media, which is helpful to solve public opinion events. In addition, when guiding public opinion, the government needs to abandon the simple, strong and inertia official attitude in the past, but pay attention to the artistry and humanization of the official language and communicate with the people in a grounded and people-friendly language. At the same time, government departments need to face the media and the public with a positive and cautious attitude, and actively report the process and progress of incident handling with an equal but rigorous attitude, so as to alleviate social panic and eliminate public misunderstanding.
This working mechanism of media integration and linkage of government, mainstream media and new media can not only play a guiding role among media, but also correctly handle the crisis of emergencies and successfully carry out crisis public relations after emergencies. In the end, it can not only achieve a good effect of dispelling public emotions, but also gain public trust and support, which is conducive to maintaining social stability and harmonious development.