Crisis Communications

&The Media

Cindy Campbell, Associate DirectorUniversity Police Department

California Polytechnic State University

Crisis Planning…in Parking?

When a crisis happens:

• Campus resources will be immediately overwhelmed

• Lines of Communication may be severely limited (radios, phones, internet access)

• The faster you can return your campus to normal operations, the quicker you begin the recovery process

Case Study:Virginia Tech

April 16, 2007“Totally under-prepared”

“At the time, there was no established line of communication between

Parking & Transportation and University Public Relations.”

Case Study: Virginia Tech

-Richard McCoy, Parking Manager, VT

• “At the time…we realized that no media plan existed.”

• “The media WILL be here. They will be of some benefit.”

Case Study: Virginia Tech 100s of state and federal law enforcement vehicles unintentionally

exacerbated the parking and traffic situation on campus.

Case Study: Virginia Tech 350+ News outlets and the 60-70 satellite trucks quickly overwhelmed

campus parking operations.

Case Study: Virginia Tech Must prepare for numerous grief activities and to support the

“special needs” of victims and VIPs.

Case Study: Virginia Tech

Day One

• Crisis Management: No communication could be established with Campus Police

• Dismissal of Campus Personnel - Removed operational managers from decision loop

• “Campus roadways were in gridlock” – no movement and no parking staff could help due to lack of radio communication

Case Study: Virginia TechDay Two – Week Two: “Grief Activities”

Observations & Lessons Learned:• Need a coordination meeting at the beginning of Day

Two

• Have a Media Parking Plan in place (written guidelines)

• Enhanced coordination & communication between P&T and local Police agencies

• Prepare for numerous off-campus mourners & sightseers to want to be at “grief site”

• Prepare to receive large number of unexpected and sporadic “grief volunteers”

Case Study: Virginia Tech

(“Grief Activities”, Cont.)

• Hosting an event with the President of the United States will halt support to everything else.

• Identify a location to stage a large number of personnel and vehicles for support of main campus (i.e. airport)

• Deploying a liaison to non-university agencies (i.e. transit) was helpful

• Deploying a liaison to university public relations department can be useful

Why crisis communications matters

Panic and lack of planning will exacerbate

any problem.

Remember…

• Lives may be at risk

• Fallout can affect the entire campus

• Effects may not be short term

Preparing for the impossible

• Develop communications strategies

• Develop scenario planning (with worst case

scenarios)

• Have designated personnel to handle crisis

communications

• Build media awareness at all levels within

your organization

Everyone’s got a GOAL

• The Media wants/needs TWO things:

Access and Communication

Our campus wants/needs:

• To maintain a reasonable flow of traffic

• The ability to access campus buildings

• Access to campus roadways and buildings for

emergency responders

• Access to campus walkways

Common Sense Guidelines

• Anticipate

• Acknowledge

• Articulate & Communicate

• Do the right thing, and be seen doing it

• Be assertive & open

• No “no comment” (gives the impression that

you have something to hide)

Common Sense Guidelines

• Monitor what the media is saying: How it is

reported, by whom, how often, qualitative as well as

quantitative, ask around, read online as well as

print/television

• Engage with journalists: Careful, honest discussion

vs. “Sales Job”

• Remember: There is no such thing as “Off the Record”

• Will the press know the boundaries?

Common Sense Guidelines• Try to understand, THEN respond.

-You don’t talk to the reporter to get rid of their questions, you talk to

them to reach your INTENDED AUDIENCE.

• No knee jerk reactions, no set pieces, no stock comments

- Don’t give anyone an opportunity to question your sincerity OR your

authority

• Train personnel - the media WILL get answers, make sure they are

YOURS

- “I will have to get the answer and get right back to you.”

• Brief Superiors & Campus Communications Team - Keep them in the

loop as much as you can

Media: Friend or Foe?

• Neither - they are impartial, and have to be

• The reality of impartiality: NOT!

• Media is intensely oppositional (ex. Investigative reporting)

• Media shapes public opinion - “Parking Nazi’s”, “Pariah”, or…

are you… ”Service Providers”, “Parking Services”

• Before a Crisis: Regular interaction with the media as opposed to

response driven interactions - situation reports, updates on projects,

positive human interest stories

• Engage! (and keep a record of all interactions…)

First 24 hours

• Create an internal operations center – hotline (if

necessary), key personnel, equipment, access to people

& information, open lines of communication.

• When formulating responses:

1. Understand the issue

2. Recognize the potentials/positions

3. Address the issue

What’s in a Message?Communicate:

– Core values (vision, mission)

– Reputation (Services, History)

– The reasons behind the action (why it is important)

– Safeguards taken and due diligence measures

– YOUR KEY MESSAGE

– Admit any wrongdoing AND what measures will be

taken for redress,

– Within what time frame, and led by whom

– Contact information (phone(s), fax, email, webpage)

Do you respond at all?

• Will it blow over?

• No response = Assumption of Accuracy?

• Respond accordingly - response based on

media monitoring, consulting superiors and

campus communications team

The Good…The Bad...and the Ugly… Share it!

• What’s happened at your campus?

• What went well?

• What will you handle differently NEXT time?