R. Morning in the morning. What do princesses, premiers and fire in Vilnius have in common?

A vacuum occurs when there is a sharp difference between different spaces, and we perceive a vacuum as a vacuum in which there is nothing, not even air. An information vacuum is formed analogously when there is a desire to receive information on one side, and an unwillingness or inability to provide that information on the other.

It takes time for the vacuum to build up. How much depends on the relevance of the information and the audience’s ability to wait. It can be months, if we are just satisfying curiosity, and hours, if we are talking about security-relevant situations.

In the case of Princess leaving public life, it took almost three months before a critical situation was formed and it was decided to burst the bubble of speculation.

In Lithuania, I realized that there was great dissatisfaction, and after a dozen hours, the Prime Minister still commented on the situation, although it did not completely fill the created vacuum.

Fire issues are resolved now in the first hours and the first day is always critical. If journalists and the public do not receive an answer, there is a need to find other ways. And this is a great breeding ground for various conspiracy theories or simply inaccurate information.

So far, Ruvis marketing manager Bronislovas Imanskas has commented on the fire quite succinctly: we know 100 percent that there is a fire, but we still don’t know what caused it. And what about the residents, smelling the stale air, you can’t bring the kindergartens and schools around, you wouldn’t want to say anything to them? What measures will you take to prevent fire from occurring in other metal and wood buyers managed by us?

It’s good that the information vacuum is being filled by municipalities, institutions and Lithuanian gelinkielia, but it’s only a matter of time when the game will turn around and the police have already started a pre-trial investigation regarding a possible violation of the rules.

The same information vacuum is formed in people, in organizations where there is a lack of internal or external communication. This is how rumors and fabricated stories appear and flourish in organizations, because people are simply trying to fill information gaps.

Smoksl theories like an avalanche

Communication strategists shaping the future face of the British royal family will probably have to re-evaluate more than once the strategy that has worked perfectly for years, which sounds like this: never start and never say anything. Is it still effective nowadays?

Obviously, in the past, people had more patience to wait for the members of the royal family themselves to decide to tell them something. Or they simply did not have a social network, so they discussed jokes and rumors at the dinner table with the family or met with the neighbors, which did not cause concern for the royal family.

In our time, everything is becoming more common, happening fast, and expectations and standards have risen. January 17 it was announced that the princess underwent an operation and that she would not be on official duty until after Easter. But already in the summer, the hashtag WhereIsKate started spreading on social networks. First with innocent memes of longing, but eventually they turned into a vicious drama of improbability, which is reported daily in the media around the world.

The accuser Marquise Rose Hanbury was also named. She once denied her involvement in the love triangle, but, of course, no one will listen to her. Everyone wanted evidence that would confirm the theory rather than deny it. Psychologists say that this is exactly how our mind works, as ChatGPT obeys the theory of showing what we want to show ourselves.

It is not surprising what gossip theories have been put forward and examined about the disappearance of the princess, coma after surgery, divorce, plastic surgery and many others. They spread like a snow avalanche, spread over the mainstream media, it was impossible not to notice, even for those who do not follow such news very well.

In Lithuania, we lived in a slightly different version of a snow avalanche, when on a regular Friday at 15:53, Edmundas Jakilaitis posted his famous message on Facebook: Hey Arvydus Anauuskas. Let’s see how Lauryns Kain will be.

Ibalo fired the prime minister, who confirmed the same yesterday that she received a real resignation letter, but will comment further on Monday.

And the action took place, it was reported that A. Anuauskas was meeting with the president that day. What is the war already? The Prime Minister protected the ministers like his own eyes, and this, a few months before the end of the term, decides to say goodbye, what happened? She hasn’t spoken to anyone, and she recently visited Germany, whose brigade we are waiting for in Lithuania.

The coalition partners were not so indignant, the opposition, the new conservative bottom Andrius Tapinas, could not have dramatized it like that. And mons experienced another anxiety attack, what will happen now?

A magnifying glass for any action later

An information vacuum does not pass without consequences. It won’t be like you give information and everything will go back to normal. Unfortunately not. The loss of trust will take time, all the information provided will be evaluated very carefully, harassingly and without poor favor and leniency. The assessment of previous events can even be changed and reversed.

For example, Princess Kate’s photos on Mother’s Day have never received as much attention as they did last year. Unfortunately, that attention was not favorable, we heard accusations about the photo being fake because it was edited. Science theorists have received new evidence that the princesses are not dead, which means that all is not well. They even claimed that the photo was edited with artificial intelligence, and the princess’s face was taken from a photo taken several years ago.

It is not convenient to check the previous photos, as the photo published a few years before the royal procession, where the then Queen Elbieta II was captured with her eyes and eyes, was also edited. This is the case in the photo database. So, where the prince really is and what is happening in his house, the doubts were not completely dispelled, but the building was also new.

Our Prime Minister’s comment this morning did not calm the passion either. Her actions and comments on Monday after her meeting with the president continued to be criticized over the course of the week. The political opponents crossed their shoulders because of the uncontrolled situation, even the coalition partners did not miss the opportunity to keep quiet that the new minister being supported is doubtful to them, and the experts teach how to fire the ministers.

E. Jakilaitis and A. Tapinas were also guilty of daring to publish a rumor and criticize the prime minister, who even questioned his excessive influence in society.

However, the most painful thing for Lithuania is that the meeting of representatives of the parliamentary party, business and trade unions regarding defense funding, which was scheduled for Monday, did not take place due to the confusion that arose. Yes, on the same Monday, which followed the dramatic Friday, when the Minister of Intelligence was asked to resign!

The negative consequences will last for a long time

We still don’t have the results of the polls after this political maneuver, but I have no doubt that confidence in the prime minister will fall. Because even the sensitive and dramatic sharing of the princess about the fight with him was not 100% believed, the public media is still actively thinking that maybe the image is not real, the forged garlands can be seen on the background of the house. It was probably filmed sometime before. Although the work was once liked by the professionals, the video on the bench was filmed by the BBC.

So, after the vacuum of information, trust falls for a long time, any information begins to raise doubts. In addition, we in Lithuania have much more serious consequences for searching security instead of transparency.

Maybe at least the fire will have a positive effect, dangerous activities will be moved to the city, away from the power station and residential buildings, and the station area will be handed over to residents sooner?

Nature does not create emptiness, philosophers made this conclusion back in the 17th century. So we no longer need to find a way to communicate, we just need to say something in time. Even if it’s just to send an e-mail. time for the team with the most important events of the week in me. It is important not to be silent.

The author of the comment is Rita Saunoryt Norutien, director of the Chestnut Communications Agency

The opinion of the author does not necessarily coincide with the editorial position.