Maybe it’s not as serious as the title.
The question is, as the public communicator, do you want to know? Do you need to know about the secret plan to get rid of Hans Landa or whatever secret plan your organization has embarked on? What about that nasty investigation … you want to know about that?
If you don’t know, it’s easy to tell reporters, “I have no idea.”
If you don’t know, it’s hard to give your boss and the team the advice they need.
If you do know, and reporters call about your secret plan, what will you say? What will you do? They could even be asking you about something classified! Yikes!
Your choice. The answer is environment based, conditions dependent but for the most part: you need to know.
And if some jabrone on the staff decides for you, because he doesn’t think you need to know, go around him and find out anyway.
A well-informed public affairs officer is a good one. When you are informed, you can anticipate queries and plan a response. When you are informed you can advise the boss on the right direction to take.
Sounds obvious? A lot of shit we write here is…
Go and do likewise.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Kayla White
