Gradute Level Essay and Journal

LET ME TELL YOU WHAT'S HAPPENING MEANWHILE. WE'VE ALL BEEN WORRIED ABOUT THIS VACUUM

OF INFORMATION. WHAT DO WE KNOW? OF COURSE AS SOON AS THIS WAS REPORTED TO DR.

TOOMEY'S OFFICE, SAMPLES WERE TAKEN OUT TO STATE LABS. THERE WAS A SAMPLE FLOWN DOWN

TO THE CDC. AND THE CDC AND THE STATE LABS ARE GOING TO CONFIRM WHATEVER THE AGENT IS

PRETTY SOON. BUT BEFORE THAT HAPPENS, YOU'VE GOT A RELIABLE SOURCE AT THE CDC WHO TELLS

YOU "THEY'RE GOING TO TELL YOU IT'S PLAGUE". YOU GOING TO RUN WITH THAT? IT WOULD BE

STRONGLY CONTINGENT ON HOW RELIABLE THAT SOURCE WAS. HOW WELL CONNECTED WAS THAT

SOURCE. WHAT FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE DID THE SOURCE HAVE TO THE INFORMATION. IT'S THE

VETTING PROCESS THAT YOU GO THROUGH WHEN EVALUATING THE CREDIBILITY OF A SOURCE AND

HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO HANG ON IT. SECONDLY, WHEN THE STAKES GET HIGHER, THE EFFORT IS TO

CORROBORATE WHAT THE SOURCE TELLS YOU WITH YET ANOTHER SOURCE. TO TRIANGULATE ON THE

INFORMATION SO THAT YOU FEEL MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT IT. IS THERE ANY REASON WHY YOU WANT

THEM TO HOLD THAT UNTIL YOU'VE MADE AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT? ABSOLUTELY. FIRST OF ALL I

WANT TO KNOW WHO THE PERSON IS YOU GET THE INFORMATION FROM.

(LAUGHTER) IF THEY'RE A REALLY CRACK SCIENTIST, WE'LL HANG ONTO HIM BUT ISOLATE THEM

SOMEWHERE. YEAH, WE WOULD WANT TO HANG ONTO IT. IF WE HAVE DEFINITIVE DIAGNOSIS THAT

THIS IS, SAY, PNEUMONIC PLAGUE, WE HAVE GOT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR STATE AND LOCAL

COLLEAGUES CAN ENDURE THAT INFORMATION BEING RELEASED BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE GONNA HAVE

A WHOLE VARIETY OF PEOPLE IN METROVILLE AND AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO ARE GOING TO THINK

THAT IF THEY WERE EXPOSED TO TERRORISM, TERRORISTS CAN DO THIS ANYWHERE. THEN EVERYONE

IS GOING TO MAKE A RUN ON THE HOSPITALS. THEY'RE GOING TO WANT TO KNOW WHERE CAN THEY

GET ANTIBIOTICS, IF THEY EVEN KNOW THAT ANTIBIOTICS IS ONE OF THE TREATMENTS FOR

PNEUMONIC PLAGUE. IT'S GOING TO CREATE A LOT OF PANDEMONIUM. SO WE'RE GOING TO WANT TO

PLAN. HOW DO WE ROLL THIS OUT? HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO DO AN INVESTIGATION AND FIND OUT

WHO WERE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE EXPOSED SO WE CAN TREAT THEM TO SAVE THEIR LIVES.

THAT'S WHERE THE VERY SHARP CONFLICT COMES BETWEEN WHAT OUR PERCEIVED OBLIGATIONS ARE

TO OUR PUBLIC. WE BELIEVE THAT WHILE YOU'RE GETTING YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW AND DOING

PRECISELY THE THING YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO BY THE BOOK, AND HAVING THINGS ROLLED OUT JUST

PERFECTLY, WE BELIEVE THAT TIME IS TICKING, AND PEOPLE ARE IN DANGER. AND IF WE HAVE THAT

INFORMATION, IF WE HAVE A REASONABLE CERTAINTY THAT THAT INFORMATION IS CORRECT, WE FEEL

THAT WE HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION TO SHARE IT WITH THAT BROADER PUBLIC. AND LET ME TAKE

YOU INTO THE PROCESS FOR JUST A MOMENT BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENING IN EVERY ONE OF THESE

NEWSROOMS. AS YOU'RE SHARING THAT INFORMATION SO YOU CAN ROLL IT OUT, YOU ARE, BY

DEFINITION, SHARING IT WITH MORE PEOPLE. BY DEFINITION. WHICH IS WHY YOU ALMOST ALWAYS

LEARN ABOUT IT ON CNN BEFORE YOU CAN ROLL IT OUT. BUT FRANK, JUST TO BE FAIR... I'M NOT

CRITICIZING THE PROCESS, I'M JUST EXPLAINING THE REALITY OF IT. RIGHT. AND I'M NOT TRYING TO BE

TOO DEFENSIVE AROUND THE SITUATION, BUT THINGS ARE DIFFERENT. WHEN WE SAY A "ROLL OUT"

STRATEGY, THE FIRST THING WE THINK OF IS HAVING A PRESS CONFERENCE. I KNOW THAT. YOU HAVE

TO BE RESPONSIBLE. YOU HAVE TO DO THAT. SO DO WE. WE WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE. NONE OF US

WANTS TO BE WRONG WITH THIS OR GO TO AIR EARLY. BUT JUST UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMIC OF

THIS SITUATION, AS YOU'RE INFORMING PEOPLE, ALL OF OUR FOLKS ARE ON RED ALERT TO BE CALLING

AND TALKING TO EVERYBODY THEY CAN. THEY HAVE YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBERS.