Communicating with Respect:

1
Communicating with Respect

• Keeping Principles, Responsibility and
  Sensitivity Foremost in a Crisis

2
Acknowledgements

• Jim Stanton President, Stanton Associates
• Derek Johnston President, Face Value
  Communications
• William Wray Carney - Media Relations
  Practitioner and Educator, Author of In The News
  The Practice of Media Relations in Canada
• Every Police Officer who ever told me where to go
• Every News Director who ever told me where to go
• My profs at Acadia University/instructors at SAIT
  (apparently I DID retain that stuff)

3
Ask yourselves

• (And pose this question to your top
  decision-makers)
• What do we want to be known for when this crisis
  is over?

4
Also ask

• If there were no crisis, how would we handle
  this?
• In other words, What do we usually do?

5
Why DONT we say more?

• The harm from disclosure is exaggerated.
• The harm from silence is under-appreciated.
• Brooke McNabb Vice-Chair,
• Commission for Public Complaints
• against the RCMP

6
A Matter of Balance

• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Fundamental Freedoms
• 2. Everyone has
• (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and
  expression, including freedom of the press and
  other media of communication

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A Matter of Balance

• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Proceedings in Criminal and Penal Matters
• 11. Any person charged with an offence has the
  right...
• (d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty
  according to law in a fair and public hearing by
  an independent and impartial tribunal

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On the question of privacy

• Know the laws, policies and practices of your
  organization that govern the release of
  information.
• As a police agency, we are always looking for
  balance.
• As much as possible, our policies and practices
  seek to reflect and support those of other
  sectors of our society.

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Case Study Officer-involved shooting

• Get facts as quickly as you can and be available.
• Remember that its under investigation. Dont
  assign blame.
• Dont lie, hedge or speculate. Be honest about
  what you know and dont know.
• Manage expectations. People have a desire to
  know right away, but that doesnt change our
  ability to find the answers or our responsibility
  to follow process and be consistent.
• Anticipate the tough questions. Always give a
  reason for No.
• Get your top decision-maker out as soon as
  possible.
• Monitor media reports. Correct misinformation.
  Continue to be available.

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Case Study Fatal MVC

• Confirm what we know.
• Talk about the process that will follow.
• Warn against speculation.
• Stick to your principles.
• Who else needs to be consulted/advised?
• Finding the balance Pragmatic vs. Principled
• I-reporting

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Things I want us to be known for

• We work hard.
• We are fair.
• We are human.
• We are accountable.

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Questions?
Elizabeth Popowich 777- 6364 or 535-3972