733667-002-002

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1987 .A1ASKA PRSA AURORA AWARD CATEQ>RY #8, "OO'HER" SUtltARI I. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this public affairs campaign was to; 1. Locate all the factual information available about the incident and make it available to the public. 2 . Reduce and eliminate rumors, speculation, and false statements by employees and persons not involved or knowledgeable. 3. Respond to the public inquiry in such a manner that the agency integrity, dignity, and respect is maintained by both employees (morale, etc.) and non-employees. 4. Respond in a timely manner with all material and explanations to preclude a "cover-up" accusation. 5. Create and provide interpretative material about complicated technical aspects so subject can be easily understood and reported. 6 . Comply with all legal aspects of the United States Freedom of Information Act. 7. Maintain the dignity and integrity of the Japan Airlines flight crew. 8. Obtain agency policy and recorrmendations for release in a timely manner. 9. Release all material simultaneously to media sources and public on a national and international basis so none have a "scoop story" advantage over another. II. PL.ANNING: Initial plans called for documenting and retaining the evidence, investigating the incident, and waiting to see if there was any media interest. Announcing the incident in any way was avoided as this would place the integrity of the agency and the flight crew in question by appearing to "grandstand". There was an initial response period to the media and public in which significant additional material about the agency's role in the incident was uncovered. This occurred on a daily piecemeal fashion as additional investigation of agency staff revealed information not previously considered relevant. Upon the advice of the Public Affairs Office the release of information was intentionally shut off until all available data could be collected, reviewed, analyzed, described, conclusions reached, and released at one time thereby eliminating the increasing appearance that the agency was either incompetent or did not consider the incident as serious. National and international media and public interest was both un- anticipated and intense. Many requests filed under the Freedom of Infonnation Act (FOIA) were received as a result of the publicity. The agency, by law, 11J.Jst respond to these requests in 10 working days. The following plan, approved by the Director, was set forth January 5, 1987 by the Public Affairs Office. - 2-, 1987 Alaska PRSA Aurora Award Category #8, PTS 1. A specific date would be chosen to release all the data. 2 . Staff assignments would be made to a variety of specialists to complete the research and assist the Public Affairs Office as needed. 3. All known material/infonnation would be collected, analyzed, arranged in logical order, and agency conclusions completed for release on March 5, 1987. 4. Additional materials, under the guidance of the Public Affairs Office, would be created as needed to help explain the basic data (See item 7, section VII). 5 . A list of all available known infonnation, with a description, length, and cost to obtain would be prepared by the Public Affairs Office for response to the hundreds of written inquiries. This would allow the public to pick and choose the items that want based on subject and cost. (Items totalling under $5.00 were sent free. The entire package cost $193.80.) 6 . A press conference, (March 5, 1987, 10:00 am) with one week prior notice to all interested news media, would be held to release all the material. The 10:00 am time was chosen to fit the regular work schedule of the ABC, CBS, NBC, film crews (no overtime needed), and provide competing daily newspapers with infonnation prior to press deadlines. Thursday was chosen specifically to fit the deadlines of the East-coast news market. 7. A complete free package of all material would be provided to any bona-fide news media inquiry, along with an index to item3 of special interest, to preclude any "cover-up". 8 . All questions would be answered at the press conference. 9. All agency effort, investigation, materials, conclusions, etc., would be completed and released at the press conference. 10. Material delivery requested by media and public via DHL, Federal Express, or other personal pickup, would be sent out the day or night before the press conference, depending on the distance of travel, so that all materials would arrive at the destination at approximately 10:00 am of March 5, 1987. 11. All inquires for information would be promptly filled. 12. Radio interviews, talk shows, telephone and personal interviews regarding the incident would be done by the Public Affairs Officer only. There is no other authorized release of information without the consent of the Public Affairs Office. 13. A complete package of the written materials will be collected and deposited wi…