Communications in a Crisis Tips for Dealing with Local Media

A line of video news cameras.

If your congregation experiences a crisis, you will often find yourself interacting with local media along with the crisis at hand. The tips below will help guide you in how and what to communicate.

First, please know that you are not alone! Reach out to your Congregational Life Staff, and they can help coach you and—if necessary—connect you with the UUA’s Public Relations / Communications team.

Plan Ahead with a Crisis Communications Plan

Even though you can’t anticipate a particular crisis, there are processes you can put in place prior to any crisis that will help you manage when they do occur.

  • Know how to contact your UUA Congregational Life staff
  • Identify the key leaders/stakeholders who should be a part of any decisions and approve statements
  • Identify a spokesperson (and a backup person) within the congregation who is trained and authorized to speak to the media. Your policies should make it clear that no other person has this authority.
  • Do periodic media trainings with key leaders
  • Have some pre-approved “boilerplate” statements available so you can quickly draft a statement if needed.

Crisis Communications Checklist

If you are dealing with a Crisis Communications event, we recommend utilizing the following checklist as a recommended practice:

  • Prior to any crisis, identify and confirm the spokesperson within the congregation (there should only be one person speaking to the media on behalf of the congregation, though you may also designate a back up spokesperson).
  • Identify the problem and/or situation receiving media attention.
  • Contact your Congregational Life primary contact to alert them to your need for support from the UUA Communications office.
  • Prepare to communicate factual information about the incident — as you know it — to the media. (Typically through a prepared statement, see below.) Do not include speculation in that information.
  • Prepare to also communicate congregational policies and UU values as part of the information you release to media.
  • Develop a statement to manage media inquiries. The statement should include pertinent facts, congregational policies, and UU values. Depending on the situation, the statement may be posted to the congregation’s website or social media platforms. Or you may just send to media upon inquiry. See below for a sample to follow.
  • Ensure that congregational staff and leadership are aware of the congregation’s spokesperson and to refer all media inquiries to the spokesperson.
  • Keep track of mentions in the media — including stories on television and radio, and articles on the web and in newspapers — to understand how the event is being characterized. This can usually be done with a simple search engine inquiry but you may also want to consider setting up a Google alert with your congregation’s name as the primary prompt.

Sample Crisis Communications Statement

When dealing with a crisis, a statement is usually the most effective way to manage media interest. It will allow the congregation to manage the flow of information to reporters so that each is receiving the same information. We strongly recommend that once you have developed and approved the statement that you let the statement speak for itself. The statement can be posted on the congregation’s website or, in some cases, social media platforms to help manage media interest.

Below is a sample statement that you can feel free to adapt for your situation:

On [X DATE], [AN EVENT] took place at [NAME OF YOUR CONGREGATION]. [PERTINENT FACTUAL DETAILS OF THE EVENT] As Unitarian Universalists, we are clear and unapologetic in the knowledge that our LGBTQIA+ siblings are sacred, whole, and divine. We understand that the full expression of the diversity of gender and sexuality is a gift. We will continue to provide a place of unequivocal support for the
LGBTQIA+ community. We thank those who have worked with us in our ongoing efforts, including our trans and nonbinary+ friends, family, and loved ones, especially against those who are seeking to harm them. And we invite others in [X COMMUNITY] to join us in this work.”

These statements are a key opportunity to reiterate UU values, as the sample statement above does.

Keep in mind that the language in such a statement should be professional — as importantly, statements should be free from speculation and/or personal details if they are not pertinent to the situation at hand. Home addresses and phone numbers — except for the contact information for the spokesperson or media contact — should never be included in a statement.

Tips for Social Media

You may also find that social media is contributing to media attention about the crisis. If that is the case, you may want to put some version of your statement up on your social media platforms. We would only recommend doing so if you are also posting your statement to your website.

If you are dealing with individuals using social media to present misinformation or harass anyone, we recommend the following:

  • If this information is posted to a page or account owned by the congregation, social media managers for the congregation should notify congregational leaders of the issue and then hide or delete misleading information.
  • Any information that is deleted should be saved in a separate file and stored privately for ongoing tracking. The congregation should have a social media policy that explains its practices, which should include the right to remove inaccurate, misleading, or harmful information. See additional LeaderLab resources for developing such a policy.
  • If a social media account holder is repeatedly posting inaccurate or inflammatory information on a page or account owned by the congregation, block the person/account from continued posting and cite the above policy. Again, save the information about the account holder in files accessible by the congregation.
  • If inaccurate or misleading information is being shared on the internet somewhere not owned by the congregation, do not engage with the content, even if it is to refute the inaccurate information. Internet algorithms collect data on, and increase visibility because of engagement, and leaving a post alone is the best way to ensure it is not seen by others.
  • Do not share links to problematic online content in emails to the congregation. Do not reference account holders posting problematic content. Congregational leaders should be made aware of relevant information and sharing should not extend further.

Tips for Interacting with the Local Media (i.e. Newspapers, Television and Radio News)

We recommend that in a crisis, most congregations communicate with members of the media through use of a statement. But if you do accept interview requests, we recommend you consult with your Congregational Life staff. They can put you in touch with the UUA’s Public Relations / Communications Team as needed.