Public information work, under real pressure.
The PIO Podcast centers the working problems of police, fire, EMS, and local government communicators. Robert Tornabene talks with practitioners about trust, transparency, media pressure, internal messaging, crisis speed, and public information that has real consequences.
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The PIO Podcast is built around the craft of public information work in police, fire, EMS, and local government settings. Robert Tornabene frames the conversations from inside that world, with an emphasis on decisions that have to hold up under public scrutiny. The show is not broad civics talk. It is about the message that goes out during a chemical concern, a wildfire, a family tragedy, a fentanyl awareness effort, or a fast-moving reputational threat. Recent episodes repeatedly return to trust. One conversation uses a local retention pond study to show the value of plain language, FAQs, and information that residents can revisit. Another stresses that crisis speed matters because the first public statement may become the version people remember. The show also pays attention to what agencies overlook: not only the incident, but the public reaction to how the incident was communicated. Its strongest material often lives in that second layer. Family liaison work brings the most human stakes, with discussion of death notifications, silence, presence, and the difference between protecting a family and giving a family enough information to act. Wildfire communication expands the job beyond flames and evacuation language, connecting public messaging to rural communities, the wine industry, defensible space, and home hardening. A fentanyl episode pairs emotional storytelling with the need for factual information rather than fear alone. Internal communication appears as a practical discipline too, built on knowing employees before crisis pressure arrives. Small-agency communication gets its own attention, including the reality that a PIO may have limited resources and a media outlet may not be able to reach every scene. The AI conversation adds a contemporary risk: altered images and videos used against public safety agencies or protesters. Across these subjects, the show keeps returning to preparation, credibility, and candor. The pace is conversational, sometimes informal, but the concerns are concrete. It is less about producing perfect language than making public language useful. Guests bring field examples, and the host keeps steering back to practical takeaways. For PlayNext, the show offers a narrow but valuable shelf: communication work where timing, empathy, and accuracy can change the outcome.
Made for: Suits a listener who works in or around public-sector communication and wants practical judgment from police, fire, EMS, and local government contexts. It also fits crisis communicators who care about trust, timing, and plain language.
What sets it apart: The show stands apart by staying close to the PIO role itself: media relations, internal communication, family liaison concerns, crisis messaging, and community trust all meet in the same practical lane.
The PIO Podcast is a platform for Public Information Officers (PIO's) and Public Affairs Officers (PAO's) in public sector organizations, including Police, Fire, EMS, FEMA, state, local, and federal government organizations. The podcast aims to facilitate learning, growth, and discussion of issues that PIO's/PAO's may encounter within their profession. If you would like to support the podcast and connect with other PIO's/PAO's, please email us at [email protected].
A small-city PIO considers interviewing himself for reporters; you can decide if it works.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Homewood communicator makes the case that plain language and open access help transparency matter when local trust is under pressure.
Trust in local government gets tested around a retention pond, as worries about chemicals, fishing, and animal life force public information work into practical terms.
A clear conversation about speed, trust, and the second crisis agencies face when they must explain their choices.
Public-sector communication is under the most strain when facts are still forming and the public is already watching. Robert Tornabene's conversation with Shel Holtz, Director of Internal Communication for WebCorp, turns that pressure into a practical look at crisis response:…
Moose Mutlow makes a grounded case for clear notifications, patient presence, and truth without ego.
Public safety communication comes under its hardest pressure when a family is receiving devastating news, and Moose Mutlow keeps that reality at the center.
A grounded public safety discussion on leadership, messaging, and the credibility risks created by AI.
The PIO Podcast frames public safety communication as part of everyday local government leadership, not just press work. Robert Tornabene's conversation with Brayden Frame, CEO of the Cartographers Group, focuses on how police, fire, EMS, and government communicators build trust…
Wildfire communication, community impact, and home-hardening choices get a practical review.
Wildfire communication is treated here as part of the job, not an add-on, in a conversation with Nick Shuler, Cal Fire's Deputy Director of Communications and Incident Awareness.
Kansas audits, explained plainly.
Government management, explained from the inside.
David French and Sarah Isgur break down Supreme Court arguments and rulings twice a week.
David Roberts interviews energy and policy experts on grids, solar, geothermal, and climate law.
Antonia Steinmiller says Homewood, Illinois earns trust by asking a blunt question: "am I buying what I'm selling?" As communications manager for the Village of Homewood, she handles social media, website content, press releases, newsletters, magazines, graphic design, and civic engagement.
The PIO Podcast opens with Robert Tornabene saying the show is for police, fire, EMS, and local government communicators, and he frames the episode around Shel Holtz's decades in communication.
["The PIO Podcast pairs host Robert Tornabene with Moose Mutlow, a crisis communication and family liaison trainer who says he moved from wilderness guiding and environmental science into public information work.", "Mutlow says family liaison starts with verified facts, so he triple-checks every report with the incident commander, field staff, and a chief before telling relatives anything.", "He argues that families should get written options, clear timing, and space to process grief, and he says nothing should reach the public until the family has been informed.", "The discussion also covers secondary harm, the Marines' stress continuum, Hillsborough, Yosemite, and why he thinks empathy, not ego, should guide crisis communication."]
The PIO Podcast episode with Brayden Frame centers on public safety communication strategy for police, fire, EMS, and local government.
The PIO Podcast's interview with Nick Shuler centers on Cal Fire's wildfire communication strategy across California.
The PIO Podcast host Robert Tornabene interviews retired DEA agent Brian Townsend about illicit fentanyl, which Townsend calls the most impactful drug he encountered during 30 years in law enforcement.
Jen Becker of JBComs, LLC explains how internal communication failures affect employees, public information officers, and crisis response.
The PIO Podcast interviews Kevin Mangan, public information officer for High Springs, Florida, about communicating for a small city and fire department with more than 7,000 residents.
Brian Murray, PIO and deputy emergency management coordinator for Harris County, Texas, explains how a jurisdiction larger in population than 26 states prepares messages for floods, hurricanes, hazardous-material spills, industrial accidents, and overlapping incidents.
Robert Tornabene interviews Civic Plus VP of Market Research Brendan Elwood, who also serves on a city council in Washington’s King County, about public engagement and local-government communication.