Page 109 - The Social Animal

Mass Communication, Propaganda, and Persuasion 91

It is their job to gather data about terrorist intentions, sound the
alarm, and tell us what to do. Most of us would be only too willing
to comply with their recommendations.
As we have seen, to be effective, warnings and instructions
should be based on reliable evidence, and should be presented by a
credible communicator. The communicator must clearly state what
the threat is and what specific actions people should take to avoid a
catastrophe. When a hurricane is coming, we are told to board up our
windows and even abandon our homes if they are in the path of the
storm. When rivers are in danger of flooding, we are warned to head
for the high ground. If I were told that terrorists were going to at-
tack my shopping mall this weekend, I would refrain from shopping.
If I were told that terrorists were about to attack planes, trains, and
buses, I would be inclined to postpone my trip.
Any warning becomes ineffective if it is vague about what the
danger is or where it is coming from or what people can do to avert
the danger. In the five years that have elapsed between the bombing
of the World Trade Center and this writing, high-ranking govern-
ment officials have issued several warnings of a possible imminent
terrorist attack. Each of these warnings has failed to meet even one
of the necessary criteria to be effective. That is, each has been vague
as to what the attack would consist of, vague about the time and place
of the attack, and unclear about what people should do to avoid be-
coming victims. At the same time, the Director of Homeland Secu-
rity has warned us to be vigilant but not to let that interfere with our
day-to-day lives. What does that mean? I guess it means that I
should not cancel my trip to New York, but after I board the airplane
I should make sure that the guy sitting next to me doesn’t try to set
fire to his shoe!
If the situation were not so dangerous, one might see a comedic
aspect to their warnings. Indeed, their public statements have pro-
vided material for the likes of Jay Leno and David Letterman. For
example, during the February 2003, alarm, government officials
urged us to stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape so that we
could tape up our windows and doors against a possible poison gas
or anthrax attack. But some experts warned that such an action
might cause people to suffocate. In response to that warning, govern-
ment officials responded by saying, in effect, “Well, we said to stock
up on that stuff, but we didn’t say to use it!”