When emergencies happen, it’s not enough just to plan for evacuation routes, shelter locations or supply inventories. Government officials must also be prepared to share information (and often fight misinformation/rumors) quickly and accurately with both residents and the news media.
An often-overlooked role in government crisis planning is a designated communications liaison. This role is key to managing both the content and the logistics of public messaging during a crisis.
Even if there isn’t a full-time public information officer on staff, assigning someone to the Emergency Management Team to serve as the official communications lead is a critical first step toward keeping residents informed and safe.
Part 1 of this article outlines a communications planning strategy to support the Emergency Management Team before an emergency hits. Part 2 digs into preparing to meet the media.
Part 1 – Communications strategy before an emergency
1 – Identify a designated media contact/spokesperson/communications liaison for your organization to be involved on both the preparation and response teams. This is a necessity, not a nice-to-have, especially if your organization doesn’t have a designated public information officer. As a member of the core crisis management team, this communications liaison focuses on both the logistics and content to ensure seamless information flow.
- Should not be someone who would have another major role in a who needs to be tending to the emergency disaster (i.e., police chief or agency director), not fielding reporter calls, organizing news conferences, tracking social media or issuing media credentials.
- Should be readily accessible, well-spoken, respected, knowledgeable, and (ideally) known to reporters.
- Should have the authority to quickly approve news releases/statements without layers of approval process.
- Should have the trust and confidence of the organization’s leadership to build the necessary team.
2 – Anticipate issues.
- Include the comms team as key players in crisis planning. Every. Single. Step.
- Identify the various types of communication responses that could be needed for different types of crisis scenarios. These could include news conferences, media advisories, news releases, social posts, social videos, one-on-one phone calls and text messages.
- Clearly define the events or triggers that would activate a crisis response. These may go beyond what an Emergency Management Team may focus on. Consider emergencies such as a leadership scandal, misstatements in meeting minutes or FOIA infractions.
- Know your core messages around the situation and how to incorporate them in any media responses (get tips on how to do this in part 2 of this article).
3 – Designate in advance a single staff contact on the comms team assigned for each item below with clear chain of command and accountabilities related to communications. This staff contact could be the designated comms liaison or someone on that team. The spreadsheet linked below has templates for each of these lists.
- Create and update monthly a list of current team members and alternates with work and cell numbers and email addresses. Prioritize by factors such as home locations (who can get to a site the quickest if an event happens during non-work hours) and diversity of cell/internet providers (if one cell tower is lost or one internet provider is down, this ensures not everyone is on the same carrier).
- Monitor social media to understand what misinformation/rumors may be circulating about the situation.
- Compile a prioritized stakeholder and partner list, including preferred communication channels. Stakeholders could include hospitals, airports, schools, etc.
- Update your media list weekly. Yes. Weekly. These positions change frequently. Following reporters on X is a good way to keep track of their comings and goings to new jobs.
- Set up a “phantom” web page on the organization’s website that could immediately be launched as a crisis response page where a designated person could update information. Consider having this page duplicated on a server away from the organization’s office and ensure someone can remotely update this site in case the server isn’t available.
- Set up an emergency-use YouTube channel that can be activated immediately when needed.
- Identify public information back-up staff from other jurisdictions who can provide support to county staff if needed. Think mutual aid for comms staff similar to mutual aide with power and other types of emergencies where the contacts are already in place. The Palmetto Alliance of Public Information Officers may be able to help with this.
4 – Communicate with employees and board/commission/council and partners/stakeholders
- Share information with staff and board/elected officials before, or at least at the same time, it is released to news media. If the situation warrants, call a meeting/telephone conference and provide appropriate information on the circumstances of the situation.
- Establish clear protocols for information sharing with neighboring jurisdictions, government agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure unified messaging. Designate a single comms point of contact with all of these organizations.
5 – Plan how you would report your own bad news.
- Don’t allow another source or a social media outlet to inform the media first or start rumors. This is your first step toward losing control of the situation.
6 – Track media inquiries and return calls as promptly as possible.
- Keep track of issues being raised by reporters and a record of which media covered what.
- Track social media. The internet doesn’t forget. AI might help with this.
- Know what’s out there after the crisis is over.
Reporters will expect ongoing contact that includes complete, honest information, background material, some indication of how the organization intends to proceed, information about the impact on your staff and citizens, regular updates and after-the-crisis follow up.
7 – Do the right thing.
- Build trust with the news media long before a crisis happens. This is an ongoing process that requires consistent, authentic engagement.
In any emergency situation, your first responsibility is to the safety and well-being of the people involved. Once safety has been restored, face the public and face the facts. Never try to minimize a serious problem or “smooth it over” in the hopes that no one will notice. Conversely, don’t blow minor incidents out of proportion or allow others to do so. Own the situation. Empathize with victims of the situation in authentic ways beyond “thoughts and prayers” (see tips in part 2 with examples)
9 – Get ahead of misinformation
- Carefully follow all types of media – traditional, social media, blogs, influencers etc.- by designating a team member to be responsible for this.
- Address misinformation when necessary.
- Consider using AI to analyze text, images, and videos to detect potentially false or misleading information circulating online.
- Remember all communication in a crisis situation falls under FOIA.
10 – Debrief
- Make sure to include your communications team in your debriefing activity.
Did you need a better process for returning media calls? Were your channels of communication with the public adequate? Did the identified spokesperson have the tools needed to respond adequately to questions? How did you handle misinformation and rumors?
Read part two of this article for tips about meeting the media face-to-face.
BONUS: All of the spreadsheets mentioned in parts 1 and 2 are available for download here. They are in Excel and can easily be adapted and customized for any organization that is doing the prep work for managing communications in an emergency. Got questions? Contact us at the Medway Group.