Knowing Your Audience – San Jose Mine
By Ash H
Business Communication and Creative Writing

After reviewing the short article that described the incident which occurred at San Jose mine (a small copper operation in the northern Chile that is owned by Minera San Esteban Primera), I felt that it was properly direct and to the point and did not steer away from all the important information that any audience would find necessary in order to be involved of the situation. However, I did notice how “cold” and unwelcoming the information felt reading it on paper. Almost as if a human being did not write this article but instead a generic robot that did not imply any sort of needed emotion in regards to the unsettling and questionable incident that occurred.
When understanding the different considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience, I have a few issues with the way this article was written. If I were a family member of one of the trapped victims at the San Jose mine, I would not find any comfort in the sentence stating “Local organizations, such as the federation of Chilean mining workers (FMC) and the confederation of copper workers (CTC) have questioned Minera San Esteban's safety record, highlighting several fatal accidents that have previously been reported at the small company.” (Weik, 2010) In fact, I would feel more alarmed and worried than I was initially thought to be due to the possibility that this company not only allowed their workers to reside in unsafe environments, but indirectly encourages it by not attending to prior instances that would question the San Jose mine’s overall safety of its employees.
If I were an employee of this company, not currently trapped within it’s mines but reading up on the productivity the company has made in order to provide help to my co-workers, I would feel appalled and disrespected that the company I work for has such little concern for their employees. I feel this way because of a specific sentence within the article that states, “Chile's president Sebastián Piñera has promised a thorough investigation into the accident… The San José mine was closed in March 2007 following a fatal accident in January that year. It resumed operations a year later, reports said.” (Weik, 2010). What this is telling me is that there is a good chance that the company had ample opportunity to fix the issue before when it first happened and obviously did not do that. Also, this gives me false hope that anything will be done properly this time around due to the incident occurring before with similar negative results.
As far as potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident, I think that article touched base on a few details that should be required when informing the victim’s families of the unfortunate situation that was taking place. The article informed the audience that “rescuers are drilling holes in an attempt to locate the workers…” which is a reassurance when reading, however they continue the update with “but there is no official confirmation whether they would be alive after four days with limited food, water and oxygen.” (Weik, 2010) This piece of information, although important enough to incorporate within this article, was worded very poorly from the perspective of the family members reading the information. I feel that the percentage of emotion when informing the audience of this information was scarce and should have been more sought out in order to reassure the family members of the victims that the rescuers are doing everything they can to help find the 33 victims trapped underground. I also think that the victim’s family members should receive a phone call with information updating them of the progress being made on site. Reading an article online or in a newspaper is not just enough to help comfort the audience of the family members.
Another key piece of information that falls under potential needs of the family members within this article is, although informative, a poorly executed choice of words. The article goes on to explain that local organizations have previously questioned the copper operation mine’s president on past occurrences of similar events. This would have the audience of the family members terrified and angry that such events have occurred before this one and it would seem that precautions were not taken as properly as they should have been considering the incident is continuously reoccurring. As far as the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about the updated events as they occur, I think this article would have current employees question their continued safety within the mine they work for. The information is simple and to the point as is and this may be enough for the employees of the mine to find comfort that the company and rescuers are doing everything they can. The employees would most likely get more specified updates within the building due to information coming directly from their supervisors as opposed to a reported writing an article of the current events.
Overall, I found this article to be lacking the right words for both the audiences of the employees and the family members of the victims trapped underground. Instead of reassurance, I think the article brings forth questions that the audience may be asking themselves instead of answers that the audience is ultimately looking for.

Reference

Weik, J. (2010). Over 30 workers trapped after Chilean copper mine collapse. Metal Bulletin Daily, (224), 65.