Information Strategies Case Study Evaluation: Cracking the Code of Silence Behind the Schwan's Salmonella Outbreak

More than a decade ago, Minneapolis Star Tribune business reporter Tony Kennedy went where no one had gone before: behind the formidable walls of secrecy surrounding a private food company called Schwan's, headquartered in Marshall, MN (Hansen and Paul, 2004). Blamed for a salmonella outbreak caused by improper sanitation of its food delivery trucks, Schwan's entered the media spotlight after having successfully maintained a code of silence few reporters had been able to break since the company's small-town beginnings. Through Kennedy's meticulous attention to information strategies, his article presented a profile of the company that had never before entered the public view. The strength of Kennedy's work lay in the elements of credibility, accuracy, timeliness, authority and reputation among his information sources.

In the area of credibility, Kennedy was able to locate Schwan's News pieces and prior news articles about the company that served as possibly his most reliable sources of information. As Hansen and Paul (2004) note, the Schwan's News items were created as internal communications within a highly privatized company. Because they were intended for employees' eyes only, these items disclosed candid, inner workings of a company that maintained a low profile in the public view. In addition, prior news articles about Schwan's served to shape the limited, public window into the company's operations by focusing on then-current events and figures which influenced the company's growth. These news articles, containing information that was previously vetted and prepared by journalism professionals, delivered a chronology of notable company happenings and provided Kennedy with a solid background in what little information the company did reveal to the public.

In line with these credible sources, Hansen and Paul (2004) refer to financial data and business analyses that Kennedy obtained. These data and analyses represented sources that likely delivered the most accuracy to Kennedy's information search. In the realm of financial and business analyses, readers demand and expect exacting reports, accurate facts and detailed company information. The process of information gathering, verification, and fact-checking that goes into these types of documents leaves little room for error and, therefore, often can be counted upon to deliver accuracy. Although, according to Hansen and Paul, this information was in short supply and difficult to track down at the time, Kennedy was able to assemble a solid financial snapshot of the company. This information, while not heavily used in the final article, helped Kennedy to form an accurate view of the company's nationwide business matters.

Complementing the company background information that Kennedy developed from the Schwan's News pieces, prior news articles, and financial data, Hansen and Paul (2004) note that Kennedy derived a significant portion of his information for the final article from breaking news stories. News about the salmonella outbreak inspired Kennedy's topic and was essential in solidifying the timeliness of his article. By incorporating information about the then-current salmonella issue into his article, Kennedy created relevance for a company profile that might otherwise have come across as an evergreen "fluff" piece. Where other news outlets were satisfied in reporting ongoing developments and updates in regard to the public health angle, Kennedy saw the salmonella story as an entrance into investigating a mysterious entity that Hansen and Paul call a "highly secretive private company" (p. 285). Without Kennedy's efforts to reveal the happenings within the literal and figurative walls of Schwan's, the veil of secrecy surrounding the company might have been left in place. The breaking news regarding the salmonella outbreak served as a compelling incentive to draw that veil of secrecy aside to explore a recognized but virtually unknown company.

The timeliness of the breaking news stories was supplemented by the authority of sources such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which Hansen and Paul (2004) remark upon due to its role in investigating the source and spread of the salmonella outbreak. As a widely recognized and trusted governmental agency focused specifically on issues of food safety and public health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration delivers nearly unquestionable authority as a result of its position, purpose, and activity in related matters. The very involvement of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in cases such as this tends to indicate matters of widespread concern to the public. In other words, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gets involved, people tend to take the situation seriously. By including such authoritative sources in his article, Kennedy simultaneously informed his readers about the wide-sweeping response to the salmonella outbreak and demonstrated the gravity of the situation.

In addition to his inclusion of such household-name sources, according to Hansen and Paul (2004), Kennedy also turned to the local Marshall, MN community that surrounded Schwan's to develop firsthand perspectives of the secretive entity behind the salmonella story. By interviewing prominent members of the local community, such as Tracy Veglahn, executive vice president of the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce, Kennedy used elements of reputation to strengthen his article. He chose to include commentary and observations by individuals who served as representatives of either the city of Marshall or Schwan's itself. In essence, these individuals knowingly placed their reputations on the line in speaking publicly about matters of the company's secrecy and business standings. Through their recognizable involvement in the community or affiliations with the company, the individuals whom Kennedy interviewed served to support the information in his article not only by personally granting him portions of that information but through the associated influence of their own reputations.

Throughout his information search, Kennedy's successful implementation of information strategies allowed him to gather a far-reaching base of content about Schwan's that no other reporter had ever been able to obtain. His development of the resulting article relied upon his ability to deeply familiarize himself with the Schwan's company's history, culture, community standings and national scope. However, the article benefited most from Kennedy's skill in "picking and choosing" the most appropriate supporting facts, details, observations and comments from the vast wealth of information he ultimately gathered. The credibility, accuracy, timeliness, authority and reputation of Kennedy's information sources influenced the final piece in ways the information alone could not have managed.

References

Hansen, K., & Paul, N. (2004). Behind the Message: Information Strategies for Communicators. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.