Knowing Your Audience

Knowing Your Audience
The audience is a central element of the communication process since it receives the message to communicate. A communication process cannot be deemed successful if the audience does not receive, understand and appreciate the message. Consequently, there are some considerations that must be observed when addressing any audience. First and foremost, it is vital to consider the relationship of the audience to those affected in the tragedy. There must be a difference in the way in which close family members are informed of the tragedy and in the way other members of the public are informed. The second factor to keep in mind is the age of the audience. Very young members of the audience require that the tragic news is given to them gently and in a language they understand. The communication to members of the audience should be done with utmost sensitivity and care to avoid shocking them.   Finally, the communication must consider the beliefs of the audience. In times of tragedy, people need a source of hope or something in which to believe. The communication must reaffirm the truths that most of the people in that audience hold and use their belief system to comfort them.
The families of the miners will have several potential needs in this incident. The first need of the family would be to be provided with complete and comprehensible information on what happened. The family has a right to be informed about how the incident occurred, as well as any other information that they may want to know. The second need that the family would have is to be informed of the safety and rescue plan for their loved ones. They will want to be told the risk in which their trapped miners are, as well as the chances of safely rescuing them. Additionally, the families will need to have someone from the company who will be available round the clock to update them of the rescue mission progress and any developments that occur.
The company’s employees would also...