At an incident, the first crews to arrive are busy pulling hose and sizing up the situation. The on-scene commander arrives, and the next vehicle to arrive is carrying reporters.

The crew is trying to save lives and reduce destruction. The reporters want answers to what seem like endless questions. While the incident commander is wondering how the media got wind of this incident so quickly, chances are a reporter is wondering why the IC is making the job of news-gathering so difficult.

Media relations training

Unfortunately, not every fire department can afford a PIO. Smaller municipalities and towns have tighter budgets that can pay for only the most essential response elements.

There are three alternatives to this dilemma. The first is to not hire a PIO and continue take your lumps from your local media. With negative press coverage, those to whom you answer — the public and local government — will have a negative perception of your department. No matter how hard you work to present a positive image, you can't overcome how the department has been portrayed by those who buy ink by the train car or videotape by the pallet.

The second alternative is to hire a PIO and eliminate a full engine complement, a less-than-positive career move. No city manager would allow that to pass in your budget due to questions of liability and politics.

The third alternative is the most cost-effective and beneficial: Train your firefighters in media relations at least once a year. There are public relations media trainers who have excellent programs that bring first-hand experience about dealing with the media in emergency response and crisis situations. Trainers also could come from area departments that do have PIOS, creating a media-savvy mutual aid arrangement.

While media training may not substitute for a full-time PIO, it does teach firefighters and officers how to control the delivery of the department's message to reporters. There are even media trainers who have experience working on hazmat teams, at nuclear facilities or with FEMA. Some training programs bring in a news media team or videographer to provide a touch of realism. That first-hand experience for the classroom participants can be worth more than what is paid for the training program.

On-scene lessons

When emergency responders enter an interview situation, they may assume the reporter controls everything and that their role is only to answer questions and hope for the best. Not so!

Regardless of the organization's size, chiefs need to come up with a plan for the department to work effectively with the media. The mission of everyone who comes in contact with the media is two-fold: They are there first to get information and then give information. If available, firefighters and officers can provide facts, background materials, releases and written statements to the reporter but, at the same time, they should gain information to better prepare the chief or other department spokesperson for an interview.

Approached in this way, both reporter and interviewee have the opportunity to prepare and function as effectively as possible. (See sidebar.)

Interview skills

When emergency responders are asked to do an interview on scene, here are some of the assumptions many make:

• Doing an interview means making yourself available to answer all of a reporter's questions.
• No matter what is said during an interview, the reporter will always find a way to take it “out of context.”
• Most people who are interviewed are misquoted.

Those assumptions are wrong. Being interviewed is about delivering a carefully crafted message to project a desired image. The decision whether to do an interview is a strategic one. Before agreeing to do an interview, a fire department member should know the real subject of the piece; the focus of the piece; who else is being interviewed; why the reporter specifically wants to talk with him or her; and what positive points the member can make for the department, agency or organization.

The reporter is coming to the department to find a certain element, perspective or voice. Reporters usually have a good idea of what they think their subjects will say, what they want them to say and what they will try to get them to say. If necessary, reporters will rephrase, reframe and repeat a question a dozen times to get the desired response.

In other words, presenting points clearly, concisely and quickly, in such a way that out-of-context statements and misquotes don't occur, is up to the interviewee. Most out-of-context statements and misquotes occur when the interviewee rambles and offers the reporter the opportunity, and the necessity, to rephrase or “cut” responses that are far too long and veer off the main point.

Going into an interview with a single over-riding communication objective is up to the interviewee. Meeting that objective and delivering the points that communicate that objective are up to the interviewee. Sticking to a game plan and delivering the message effectively are up to the interviewee.

A full-time public information officer may be out of reach, but firefighters and emergency response personnel who are trained regularly in working with the media still can provide positive benefits for both a department's visibility and its standing with those who control the budget. Good media relations now can reap many benefits and rewards for the growth of a fire department.

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Bert Henderson and Phoenix McKinney share more than 50 years of experience in public relations and training. Both have extensive backgrounds in the public sector. As partners they produce media training programs for clients and individuals with strategies to work successfully with their local media. Visit Henderson McKinney & Associates on the Web at www.hendersonmckinneyandassociates.com.

6 tips to meet the press

1. Define roles

   One trusted staff member should have the ultimate responsibility to serve as the press liaison.

2. Observe deadlines

   Reporters live and die by them, as do their respective media operations. A story won't die if a fire department doesn't provide information by a deadline. Instead, the material will run without the organization's perspective.

3. Be available

   News is an around-the-clock operation. Having an on-call system in place can provide the media with names and telephone numbers to call after hours or during an emergency.

4. Be helpful

   You may not be the person with whom the media need to talk, but make sure you get back to the reporters with the contact they need to complete their job. Delayed? Call a reporter back to explain.

5. Think like a reporter

   Think about information, graphics or other details that can help the reporter tell the story and enhance the department or organization's position and visibility.

6. Coordinate

   Everyone in the department or organization should understand how press calls are handled. If an issue is making news, everyone who answers a phone should know how calls are to be handled.