Procedures For Handling Media Inquiries
All media inquiries are to be directed to the Strategic Marketing Department, as indicated in the College’s Media Relations Policy. Once the Executive Director of Strategic Marketing has received the inquiry, the following procedure will be followed:
Urgent or Sensitive Issues
Examples of urgent/sensitive issues include campus crisis such as an assault; Master Plan progress; budgetary issue; financial audit; cancellation of programs; personnel issue.
The Executive Director will contact the President to discuss. They will jointly determine who is to respond. While it is unnecessary and inappropriate for the President to be the primary and constant media contact, it is valuable to the President and the College for the media and the public to view the President as accessible and visibly leading the institution. Accordingly, in order to promote high visibility of the President’s leadership role, the President will likely be the media spokesperson in the case of sharing extremely good new and managing extremely bad news.
Non-Controversial Issues
Examples of non-controversial issues include a description of College programs, such as services to disabled students, GED program, etc.; College events; basic, non-sensitive fact and figure inquiries.
The Executive Director will inform the President of the inquiry. If there is a reliable campus contact who can respond to the inquiry with expertise in an informed, responsible fashion, Executive Director will:
- contact the campus contact to discuss the issue and brief him/her on questions to expect and topics to avoid and, then,
- refer the reporter to the campus contact.