Crisis Communications ... First Steps

Bob DeWitt
Director of Marketing & Communications
Greater Pittsburgh Council

• Be available to the media if your organization is in the news on an unfavorable subject. "No comment" is never acceptable, along with "not available for comment."
   
• If you can't say anything just yet, tell the reporters just that.
   
• Speak when you're ready. It's OK to say to a reporter, either in person or over the phone, "give me a few minutes." Better to collect your thoughts than to say the wrong thing.
   
• Understand that news organizations have deadlines. Start with "this is what I know," and state the facts simply and clearly. Follow up as needed.
   
• Realize anything you say to a reporter (in an interview or otherwise) is on the record, unless you state otherwise and the reporter agrees to it.
   

The Merits of Marketing (marketing.scouting.org) is a resource for local councils, developed by the Marketing & Communications Division of the National Council, Boy Scouts of America.