Pub. 2 2012-2013 Issue 2

23 The Chain of Command As a leader, you need to knowwhen you are going to interject and when you let someone else take care of it. Set up levels of command, includ- ing someone who is leading the operation and a separate media relations person. This allows you to focus on running the event and making sure you do it right, and it allows your media relations person to truthfully say “I don’t know” in certain circumstances, because not always are you going to give all information out. “If you have the person who is running the [crisis response] stand up and say, ‘Okay these are things I’m willing to talk about and these are the things I’m not willing to talk about,’ it sounds very disingenuous,” said Chief Burbank. Spread the Good News, Too! “The time to build credibility within the media happens long before a crisis happens,” said Brough. When you look at your communications plan, is it just a crisis communication plan? You don’t want to only be on the news when bad things happen, so think of your communications plan holistically. Try to find good news to put out there. For instance, post on social media sites and announce to the media about the new technology your school receives. “From parents to students to faculty to technol- ogy — there’s a lot of new things happening at your school all the time that you could provide as news content,” said Jones. There are so many positive things to share, and it’s going to be up to you to make sure your message gets out. In a crisis, the public wants to know three things: what’s happening, what you are doing about it and what it means to them,” said Jones. You need to be able to answer those questions quickly, responsibly and accurately.