Norfolk endorses communications strategy

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

Norfolk County officials are hoping a new communications strategy will help combat misinformation in the community.

The strategy, the first of its kind for the municipality and endorsed by councillors at the Sept. 9 council-in-committee meeting, makes several recommendations for staff to implement, including the use of artificial intelligence, adopting a media monitoring tool, and creating a community ambassador program.

“In an age of misinformation and disinformation and concerns around trust, if we can build partnerships with the agencies and agents in the community that have already acquired trust with their interest holder groups within their communities and build those communication relationships, then we’ve come closer to winning that challenge,” said Doug MacMillan, a consultant with The Letter M who helped the county develop the plan.

While it promotes the use of AI, MacMillan stressed the strategy includes safeguards against its misuse or the pitfalls associated with the technology. At the same meeting councillors also approved a staff recommendation to implement an AI policy for internal staff.

MacMillan called its use “a carefully managed and staff overseen tool, but certainly a resource that is making the most of the resources that you do have.”

The strategy also calls for the implementation of a community ambassador program, where trusted members of the community will be enlisted to “share accurate information, counter misinformation, and foster respectful dialogue, especially on social media and in everyday conversations,” a staff report said. 

Coun. Adam Veri had some hesitance surrounding the ambassador program, fearing it could backfire if an ambassador opposes something the county is doing.

“What kind of measures are in place to make sure our ambassadors realize that when you do this, yes you can leave, but there’s an expectation that you’re not using your platform to undermine council’s decisions?” he said.

Director of Customer Service and Communications Katherine McCurdy said the idea of the ambassador program is more to have community members directing people to sources of accurate information in an effort to keep misinformation from spreading.

The strategy also includes several internal recommendations for how departments interact and communicate. For the most part, the existing communications budget will be used to implement the strategy. McCurdy said at this point the only item that would require a budget increase is the media monitoring tool.

With the proposal to incorporate more AI and with a focus on social media, Coun. Linda Vandendriessche wanted to make sure traditional methods of communication would still be available.

“At the end of the day can a person still pick up the phone, ask a question and get an answer?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” replied McCurdy. “The phone is never going away, it’s something we really ensure residents are aware of and really strive to provide a great experience.”