In politics, you’re either on message or you’re losing. Let’s get to it.
Welcome to On Message, a weekly look at where the battle lines are drawn and who is winning the war of words.
This week… Crisis Communication.
Like it or not, the current media environment is a dry forest bed just waiting for a spark to ignite a raging fire.
Even if you try to stay under the radar it doesn’t take much to go from unknown to the center of a media storm.
Sometimes it happens with little harm, like the lawyer who went viral this week by showing up to court via Zoom with a cat filter on.
(Lawyer: I’m not a cat)
It gave everyone a reason to smile for a minute and no one actually knows what he really looks like.
No harm. No foul.
Other times, you can make one small, maybe even innocent mistake and trouble is knocking at your door before you know it.
Take the Maria Montessori Academy in North Ogden, for example.
The school director started by trying to do something special for Black History Month.
Some parents wanted to opt their kids out of the curriculum, which is allowed under state law.
Up to this point, it’s not really a news story.
Then the director sent a letter to all parents in the school to let them know they had the same option. That was the spark that lit the fire.
Before long, the story went from the Ogden-based Standard Examiner to national news outlets and statements and responses coming from elected officials and professional athletes.
in 2021 you can get famous in a hurry and that’s not always a good thing.
The school issued a statement to clarify what happened and, for those who were still paying attention, that seemed to put the matter to rest.
For those who weren’t, they got their moment of righteous indignation and moved on to the next victim.
Utah’s reputation takes a hit but the news cycle moves on.
What can we learn from this?
Crisis communication is as much an art as it is a science. And sometimes the best you can do is minimize the damage.
I would highlight three things: In a crisis you want to be factual, be apologetic (if you have made a misstep) and be concise.
The Maria Montessori Academy had some facts on it side and did the right thing by issuing a statement to set the record straight.
In this case, the school director had made the situation worse by sending the email to all parents giving to let them know they could also opt out of Black History Month at the school.
But he was also quick to admit his mistake. Accountability still counts for something in the court of public opinion – almost always more so than ducking responsibility. It’s not the easies thing to do, but it’s better to do it early.
Finally, the school was concise, issuing a statement to clarify, handling some questions from reporters and then stepping off the stage. As the old adage says, “When you find yourself in a hole… stop digging.”
And don’t make things worse by standing in the spotlight when it will, almost without fail, move on to the next story.
That’s it for this week.
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More On Message in the next issue of the Utah Political Underground.
You can check it new issues every Friday at utpolunderground.com including this week’s cover story: an exclusive discussion with Senator Mike Lee about his vote to accept the 2020 presidential election results.
