STOCKLINE PLASTICS FACTORY

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STOCKLINE PLASTICS FACTORY DISASTER Working
with the Media
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TUESDAY 11 MAY 2004

• 12 NOON
• Fire Brigade has handled calls to 38 incidents
• These include
• 8 fires
• Numerous faulty automatic alarms
• 2 Elderly people cut out of crashed cars near
  Loch Lomond

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12.01

• Member of the public dials 999 to report
  explosion in Maryhill area.
• Call followed almost immediately by 40 more to
  report collapsed building in Grovepark Street

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12.06

• First Fire Engines arrive at scene
• Firefighters witness devastation

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MEDIA SOON ON SCENE

• Grovepark Street on doorstep of Maryhill
  Cowcaddens Fire Stations
• ..but also minutes from offices of almost every
  major broadcaster and newspaper in Scotland.

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First news..

• TV crews arrive in time to film walking wounded
  escape from wreckage.
• Afternoon schedules cleared to show injured
  survivors

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Media Management

• Brigade and Police quickly send media officers
  to scene, while calls are dealt with back at
  headquarters.
• Taped media corral set up opposite entrance to
  Stockline Plastics

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LOCATION

• PLUS POINTS
• Good vantage point for pictures
• Space for corral without impeding emergency
  work
• Corral convenient for regular briefings

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LOCATION

• MINUS POINT
• Good vantage point for pictures

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Working with the Media

• Extremely large and sustained media presence
• First arrive minutes after explosion.
• Last leave 3 days later (Friday 14 May), after
  last body removed from wreckage

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Meeting 24/7 Media demands

• The Media covered the Stockline Plastics story
  round the clock.
• Largest gathering during the day (when all main
  broadcasters provided live coverage for main
  bulletins).
• Smaller presence through the small hours as
  search for survivors went on under arc lights.

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Briefing the Media

• Fire Brigade and Police hold joint briefings to
  give progress reports on rescue operation
• Firemaster Brian Sweeney meets growing demand for
  live TV interviews

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Behind the scenes

• Brigade Media Liaison Officer organises bulk of
  briefings and one to ones with individual
  journalists.
• Public Affairs Manager deals with majority of
  phone calls from media.
• Both give updates to corral journalists
  throughout day and well into night

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Problems ..

• Operations such as Stockline involve many
  organisations all willing to speak to the
  media.
• This can lead to mixed messages.
• All interviews should be supervised to ensure the
  media is not given confusing messages.
• This is particularly vital in extremely sensitive
  situations, such as Stockline.

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and Pluses

• However the presence of organisations such as
  International Rescue and dog rescue teams made it
  possible to vary the range of stories one could
  offer the media while the search for survivors
  went on.

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To sum up a long 3 days..
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