“Who do you think is leaking this stuff?” my boss asked.
“I don’t know Sir. Maybe it was Daniel Illsburg. It could have been Steve Rogers.”
Sometimes it matters who is leaking information but most of the time it doesn’t … to me.
To be clear: Leaks are bad. They put the official communication apparatus in spin and sometimes put our mission, capabilities or troops at risk. It matters when sensitive information is leaked, and there are security professionals who will deal with it. However, to you, the organization’s Public Affairs Officer, finding the source of leaks is a distraction; your job is to address and contextualize public narrative.
After a leak that affects our organization, I get to have 14 ten-minute conversations about the source. That’s 140 minutes I could be doing something useful.
A bigger problem: public affairs people don’t just have to have these conversations about leaks affecting their specific organization, they have to talk to anyone who wants to talk about all leaks. A few weeks ago, a soccer dad asked me about a leak related to PACOM. I haven’t been in the Pacific since 2006. I have no idea who is leaking PACOM shit or why.
But chances are, those leaks aren’t coming from a PAO. Yes, reporters get leaked information. Yes, PAOs talk to reporters. No, reporters aren’t getting leaks from PAOs – who are focused on protecting their commands and synchronizing the department’s narrative … not driving agendas and airing dirty laundry in public.
Most of the time, by examining the perspective, we can guess which agency is providing information and why, but it doesn’t tangibly matter. What matters is how, if and when we respond.
So what do you do when you’re asked about leaks? Have a response in your bucket of responses. Turn the conversation back to action. “Sir, this leak looks like it’s coming from the United Nations Space Command, more importantly Captain Price is going to give a backgrounder with a few journalists to provide the proper background and context. In the meantime, I’ve talked with the J3 and the guys are making the necessary adjustments to the plan.”
“Thanks Dave, who do you think leaked this?”
“FML.”
Photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret
