Media monitoring program helps calm Americans’ nuclear energy fears

After the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, confidence about nuclear power in the U.S. started to waver.

But Burson-Marsteller’s aggressive, 24/7 listening campaign was focused on alleviating people’s concerns about nuclear power. The 2012 PR Daily Award for Best Listening and Media Monitoring Program goes to this company’s dedication to nonstop service to quash rumors and answer questions through social media.

“With more than 170,000 unique pieces of digital content posted by users online each day at the peak of the crisis, it was clear that the online space would serve as a primary driver of coverage and dialogue about the future of nuclear energy in the U.S.,” says Dallas Lawrence, Burson-Marsteller’s chief global digital strategist. “Keeping a pulse on these conversations and making sure the public had the facts about nuclear safety was our highest priority.”

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the national policy organization of the U.S. nuclear industry, partnered with Burson-Marsteller’s digital crisis communications team to help alleviate public and policymakers’ concerns, Lawrence says.