Coralling the Pack

MICHAEL Lester says he has had some difficult jobs before but trying to coordinate public relations for the Beaconsfield mine is shaping up as the most demanding.

Mr Lester, a former political correspondent, and later a political advisor to Jim Bacon, now works for CPR Communications.

“I came onboard after the rock fall and have been dealing with hundreds of enquiries each day since.’’

Mr Lester said the Port Arthur massacre was the only news event with a similar level of media interest that he had ever contended with.

“I was involved with that as a journalist but this is probably bigger, not that you can compare a tragedy by size.’’

He said a majority of the assembled media was well behaved but that some media activities had the potential to slow rescue efforts.

“I have had reports of media listening in on radio communications, that means they have to be relayed using phones and that takes extra time.’’

“The choppers are also wreaking havoc when they fly past the command centre.’’

“It’s a metal building, often with 20 people in it, and when the choppers flyover you can’t hear each other and that costs man hours too.’’

Mr Lester said he understood that the media was only trying to do their job but asked for respect.

“I heard of one case where a mine supervisor came off a 12-hour shift and went home to sleep only to be woken by the media.’’

“In addition locals participating in the rescue can’t sleep because of the choppers.’’

He said all involved were working together and keeping the miners’ families informed.

“What we are trying to do is brief stake-holders and they are disseminating the information.’’

“I now have the bonus of an assistant who just arrived from Sydney.’’

“We are trying to brief the media twice per day in addition to any new developments.’’