FEMA’s under fire…again.

Nothing like a PR professional’s media mishap overshadowing FEMA’s corrective actions as an attempt to repair a battered reputation. Just another classic PR case study for the text books:  ‘What not to do.’
 

FEMA caught faking it
Last week FEMA called a press conference to give updates about FEMA’s response to the California wildfires. Because the conference was called last minute, no reporters showed up. Reporters were given the option to call in to a listen-only press conference line.

Red flags were raised by journalists listening to the call and questioning the overwhelmingly positive tone. Reporters also questioned how Harvey Johnson, FEMA spokesman, answered questions with ease and eloquence, according to the Washington Post. For example:

“Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far?” a ‘reporter’ asked. Another asked about “lessons learned from Katrina.”

“I’m very happy with FEMA’s response so far,” Johnson said, hailing “a very smoothly, very efficiently performing team.”

FEMA later admitted to using its own employees as staged reporters asking prepared questions.

Responding to the media flack 
The media had a field day with the claims, which once again damaged the credibility of the government agency. According to an a report on Time.com, Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security Secretary, wasn’t afraid to let the press know what he thought of FEMA’s theatrics:

I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I’ve seen since I’ve been in government, Chertoff said. I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again and there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those people who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment.

These disciplinary actions may cost some FEMA representatives their jobs. At this point it is unclear if Pat Philbin, FEMA’s external affairs director, was fired or offered a resignation.