DHS Considers Alternatives To Color-Coded Warnings
By John Mintz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; A06

Responding to widespread criticism, Department of Homeland Security officials are considering changes to the color-coded terrorism warning system and other methods of providing more useful information to the public without causing panic or disclosing closely held intelligence.

Among the possibilities forwarded to Secretary Michael Chertoff are issuing lower-key alerts on the department's Web site -- as the State Department does now with travel advisories -- rather than by holding news conferences, and changing the color categories to numbers or letters, current and former officials said.

Other options raised by some top Homeland Security officials who have studied the issue include conducting periodic polls and focus groups to better understand how people react to warnings, they said.

Also, the department may launch a years-long public education campaign, including television documentaries and participation in made-for-TV movies, officials said. The idea would be to help Americans understand the difference between various types of terrorist attacks, and explain the typically fragmentary nature of the government's intelligence about where and how they may be carried out.