|
Last week, FEMA broadcasted a press conference to inform the media of its efforts to support those affected by the wildfires in California, although it forgot one thing: the press. Actually, saying it ‘forgot’ may be as misleading as its stunt. FEMA completely shut out the media from the Q&A.
During the staged press conference, a half a dozen questions from paid FEMA employees posed questions to their own FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson, whose predetermined answers came off strong, eloquent and rehearsed—as they should, having known the questions beforehand. Once the scandal broke, Pat Philbin, the now former director of external affairs for FEMA who took the most heat for the ruse, lost his job over his involvement in the mock-press conference.
Although I agree that in a time of crisis, managing public relations through efficient means can be challenging, it is a necessity. In any case, accurate reporting and honest answers are what maintain credibility. FEMA, however, allowed its credibility to burn like the wildfires it was reporting on by issuing a press conference under false pretenses—not to mention seriously damaging their already tarnished post-Katrina reputation in the press. Yes, FEMA may have had good intentions of getting information out there, but their methodology of communicating was warped.
Perhaps my relatively limited experience working in communications hasn’t jaded my ethics just yet, but I see a real problem with the manner in which FEMA handled this catastrophic event that is still ravaging the West coast. I imagine it is stunts like this that give people the idea that the field of PR is full of spin-doctors, propaganda pushers and shove-the-bad-news-under-the-rug practitioners.
**to read more articles by this author, click on the name under the headline**
 |
