At one time, especially in the suburban volunteer fire service, when an incident was newsworthy a simple formula was established for reporting. Type out a press release (yes type), mail it to the community newspaper, enclose a picture or negative from the photos you developed at the drug store and wait a week for the public to learn more about the fire. But those were kinder, gentler times. Now instantaneous PR is a 24/7/365 job, even for volunteer PIO’s. We must always be on our toes listening to what the community, bloggers and press are saying about us.
Erroneous facts, distortions and misinformation must be corrected on a moments notice or we are placed in the position of stonewalling or lacking credibility. We must also, in instantaneous time, evaluate a situation to make sure our response is based on rock solid facts.
Vanity Fair magazine has an upcoming piece on the Obama administration. I saw a quick preview of the story and in it there is a section on political PR in a real time world.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer had some good quotes in the piece. He said-
“What they teach you on the first day of press secretary school is to worry about blowing something up by giving attention to it. Don’t blow something up.”
Although the quote is meaningful, explaining that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions and let the facts unfold, the White House did not take its own advice on blowing something up when it came to the recent Shirley Sherrod firing. She was axed from the Department of Agriculture abruptly, with not all the facts in about the viral video making the rounds that alleged reverse racism.
However, the story continues to quote Pfeiffer by saying, “But today, there’s no choice – the story will get blown up anyway, and you simply have to respond.” True, but based on deep mining and knowing all the facts before speaking.
Also on The Fire PIO…
- What’s in your Email Subject Line? – August 11, 2010
- When an Editor needs Editing – October 12, 2010
- Sleazoid PR for Sleazoid Clients – September 10, 2010
- Mercaptan Mania – August 20, 2010
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