NEA HIN | Before a Crisis

— Communications &
media relations

Communications and media relations

	Accurate and consistent information and updates are imperative for restoring order and supporting the needs of the school family. The strength of your plan’s communications and media strategies will help ensure everyone has the most up-to-date information. Big-picture communications and media strategies to include in the plan are: Determine who and how the school or district will provide information during a crisis about: What happened? Who is in charge? Has the situation been contained? How? Are the victims being helped? Why did this happen? Did you have forewarning? Identify tools used to communicate with internal and external audiences: An emergency Web site, linked to the district homepage, with regular updates and links to resources An email listserv to stakeholders who must be contacted regularly, such as staff, media and elected officials Translation services Templates Electronic message templates at school and district offices to provide the latest information.
	A daily fact sheet template. Click here to download a sample.
	Template letters or emails to parents at affected school and other schools in district. Click here to download a sample.
	Frequently asked questions and answers that can be distributed to media and put on the crisis Web site. Click here to download a sample. Identify tactics for answering media questions, sharing accurate and up-to-the-minute information and developing positive working relationships with the media: Know who to contact and how to reach all local media. Think about how your community gets its news. For example, do people rely on radio stations? Is there a local news station? Develop template news releases and advisories that can be quickly filled in and updated with information. Follow all district policies and state laws when releasing information to the media. Identify an experienced spokesperson to field media questions and requests.
	Craft key messages about school safety and talking points specific to the emergency or crisis. Click here for sample association media messages. Click here for school safety statistics. Identify who will provide guidance to teachers on media interviews.
	Establish policies regarding media presence on school grounds and in buildings. Click here for protocols.
	Manage media coverage of benchmark dates. Click here for media tips.
	Create a letter or email that encourages media responsibility. Click here to download a sample.