It's a telling tale when Michael Jackson's mug shot is front-page news and Kobe Bryant's arrest amounts to an international lead story.  These days, the public's hunger for details about the downfalls of the rich and famous is insatiable.  While society's superstars don't often land behind bars for their illegal exploits, some do end up in correctional facilities. And, when the media spotlight turns on corrections, it's public information officers who feel the effects.

While some corrections agencies are more accustomed to media melees than others, like Los Angeles County where many people of public interest reside, all need to be prepared to handle the chaos that ensues when the media circus comes to town.

Corrections agencies that serve both small towns and large cities need to be ready for an unexpected onslaught of media attention, according to Rick Rosenthal, President of RAR Communications, a law enforcement media relations training and consulting firm.

"It can happen anywhere," Rosenthal said, providing Nacogdoches County, Texas as an example of a no-man's-land turned media circus. 

In February, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated above the eastern Texas county during its descent to the Kennedy Space Station in Florida.  Instantly, the event became a tragedy and a full-blown media free-for-all. 

Although the shuttle tragedy differs from typical events associated with corrections, it demonstrates that any place can become the center of the media universe in a matter of seconds.  And, when the spotlight turns on tiny towns, those who are in charge of disseminating public information there, whether they are corrections personnel or information officers from other fields, need to be prepared to deal with the media.

Confronting the Media in Corrections

"The principles [of how to handle the media] are very much the same," Rosenthal said, comparing the media frenzy over the shuttle disaster to situations in corrections involving celebrities or high profile individuals.  If someone who has been dubbed "interesting" by society gets arrested and is incarcerated, the public wants to know.  And it's the media's job to bring that information to them.

"The savvy public information officer in a corrections agency is going to need to anticipate [media coverage] and prepare [for it]," said Rosenthal, a former journalist.  "[Otherwise], you'll be chasing that train down the tracks and you'll never catch up."

Preparing for an event in which the media may descend upon a particular corrections agency doesn't have to be an all-day, every-day activity, explained Rosenthal.  But, he added, certain issues should always be on a public information officer's mind.

Knowing the Rules and Regulations

Public information officers need to know and understand the policies and procedures of their particular organizations.

 "The PIO needs to [know] what he or she can or can not say," Rosenthal said.

Also, he pointed out, PIO's should be familiar with local, county and state laws in addition to their own agencies' policies.

"Familiarizing themselves with [those] is part of the preparation process," Rosenthal said. 

Maintaining Control

Once PIO's have prepared for a media by reviewing the rules and regulations of their agencies, what do they do when it actually happens?  According to Rosenthal, it is important that corrections agencies, not the media, control the information that is being reported to the public about famous or high profile inmates.

"It is the PIO who needs to be in charge," Rosenthal said.  "[He or she] must always be in control of this situation and never let the media drive what's going to happen."

Debbie Szpanka, Public Information Officer for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina, too, stresses the importance of controlling the flow of information to the public.  A former reporter, she recommends getting valid facts out to the press so that journalists don't go fishing for facts of their own.

"The nature of the media beast is to fill the [television] time or the newspaper space," said Szpanka, who administered a seminar on media relations last year at the American Jail Association's Annual Training Conference.  "You have to feed the animal because the animal isn't going to go away."

If a public information officer or another corrections official isn't providing information to the media, Szpanka pointed out, someone else will.

"You better be feeding the animal or it's going to go some place else and get information that's not controlled," Szpanka said.

Rosenthal agrees that corrections needs to provide information to the press so that they don't rely on the family, friends and neighbors of incarcerated individuals as primary sources for the facts of a story.

"[Corrections agencies] need to get information out there that is factual to balance some of the other stuff that's coming down the pike," Rosenthal said.

According to Szpanka, if corrections personnel control the flow of information to the media and determine which facts to release, both parties benefit.

"You keep the integrity of the story and of the investigation [when you control the information]," Szpanka said.  "You can still feed the animal and both sides have their agendas met."

Dealing with the Negatives

While controlling the flow of information to the public is an important part of corrections' job, so is taking responsibility for any mistakes an agency may have made.

"In law enforcement, people are making split second decisions.  We are human.  We'll have negatives," Szpanka said.  "Deal with negatives quickly."

By not presenting facts immediately or saying "no comment" in response to reporters' questions, an agency can seem sneaky or untrustworthy to the public.

"Never say 'no comment."  It looks like you're covering up something," Szpanka said.  "You need to be accountable to the public," she added.  "If you try to cover up anything, anything, it doesn't go away."

Focusing on the Task at Hand

While acknowledging their own faults is essential for corrections agencies in high exposure media events, so is realizing their own limitations.

"[Corrections agencies] need to talk only about their role in the criminal justice process," Rosenthal said.  "All [they] should talk about is what they know and do," he added. "They can talk about the booking process, the intake process and the housing process."

And, according to Rosenthal, it is the responsibility of a public information officer to stick to the facts of the high profile event as they pertain to corrections.

"The public information officer will never speculate, never talk about the case, never talk about the prosecution," Rosenthal said.  "Corrections focuses on corrections."

Feeling the Media Pressure in Florida

The Orange County Corrections Department is familiar with these principles and as well as the media the spotlight.  Last year, the incarceration of twenty-four-year-old Noelle Bush, Governor Jeb Bush's daughter and President George Bush's niece, drew attention from media outlets from around the world.

"It was a very high profile event," said Orange County Corrections Chief Timothy Ryan, whose department transformed into a media magnet when Bush, who was arrested for violating the terms of her court-ordered drug treatment, landed in the Orange County Jail System.

"We did not recognize initially that it would be such a big deal internationally," Ryan said.  "It didn't change what we did, but it did heighten the interest."

The media's interest in Bush and her incarceration came in the form of nearly 200 phone calls to the Orange County Corrections Department in a 24-hour span, according to Allen Moore, the department's Public Information Officer.

"We weren't prepared to handle the volume of calls," Moore said.  But, he added, the department was ready to deal with all of the other issues that accompanied Bush's incarceration.

"We already had contingencies in place to hold press conferences," Moore said.  "[And], we had lines of communication already set up with [other] agencies," he added, referring to the courts and prosecutors. 

According to Ryan, the department called together a management team, which developed a plan for all corrections-related activities pertaining to Bush, like transportation and booking, and team members made contact with the other involved agencies to set guidelines for how they would interact.  All of this took place before the department addressed the media. 

"You can stall the media with something like that because you want to have all your ducks in a row [before you talk to them]," Ryan said.  "Once we had a good plan in place, then we were in a better position to share [information]." 

When it came to disseminating information about Bush's incarceration, the department aimed to keep it simple.

"We tried to keep it as generic as we could," he added.  "We tried not to make it a big deal."

In discussing the Bush situation with the media, Ryan did his best to accommodate all information requests, but expected the press to understand that there were certain details of her incarceration that he could not divulge for security reasons.

"You're not going to tell them what cell she's in or where she's located," Ryan said, alluding to the special concerns associated with Bush's incarceration, like terrorism because she is related to the leader of the United States.  "We wanted to ensure there was nothing but safety throughout for a person who is that close to the President."

As far as media criticism is concerned, Ryan said the only major fault the press found with the department was related to Bush's visitation privileges.

"We made special arrangements with the Governor because he literally could not come [to the jail] at the same time as other visitors could," Ryan said.  "We got a little bit beat up by the press on that."

Overall, however, Ryan believes that the department stood up to the challenges that the Bush situation presented and he feels as though it was effective in managing information and disseminating it to the press.  The department's preparation for such an event, he feels, was vital to its success in this case.

"I think that preparation is the absolute key to it," Ryan said.  "Having a good policy and procedure in place for high profile inmates [is essential]," he added. 

In Orange County, Ryan said, there is a checklist for dealing with high profile or celebrity offenders, which addresses media relations as well as other practices, including internal booking operations, housing and visitation.

Aside from utilizing a checklist, Ryan feels that it is important to develop a strategic plan for how the department will address the press.

"You need to have a solid plan, practice that plan and execute [it]," said Ryan, who is a firm believer in rehearsing his statements before marching out to confront the press.  In fact, the Corrections Chief holds mock press conferences with his staff before speaking at the media gatherings.

"I'll have a written statement and I read [it]," said Ryan whose staff then peppers him with questions about the information he has presented to them.  "I have found that my staff is tougher on me than the media is," he added.  "We critique [my responses] after."

Once his staff has grilled him and made suggestions on how he can improve his answers, they go through the whole process again to make sure that Ryan is fully prepared to meet the press.

"You never walk into [a press conference] unless you have the answers to the questions," Ryan said.

Aside from practicing speaking to the media, another rule that Ryan lives by is telling the truth.

"You need to be honest," Ryan said.  "You've got to be able to say 'I don't know, but we can find out,'" he explained.  "My role is to be honest and forthright.  [I] tell the story the way it really is and let the chips fall where they may."

According to Ryan, being dishonest with the press or keeping information from them is dangerous because it can ruin the relationship that corrections personnel have developed with the media and transform the people providing the information into targets for negative attention.

"You [can] become the story for hiding the story," Ryan said.  "[And] you don't want to become the story yourself."

Keeping up with the Press in California

Like the Orange County Corrections Department, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department was thrust into the media spotlight this past April, when Scott Peterson ended up in the department's Modesto, California jail.

Accused of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, Peterson remains there in a maximum-security cell while he awaits trial.  His case drew media attention from all over the world, first as a missing persons case and then as a double murder, when the remains of his wife, who disappeared last Christmas Eve, and the couple's unborn child were discovered washed up along San Francisco Bay.

"We found out that Mr. Peterson was coming [to our jail] early on April 19th," said Deputy Tom Letras, Spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.  "We knew the focus of the media attention would be [shifting] from Peterson's arrest in the case to what goes on in the jail."

Letras, who typically handles all media requests for booking photos, realized there would be an abundance of calls from reporters wanting Peterson's photo.  "I knew that I was going to be getting phone calls for booking photos all night long," he said. 

What seemed like a better idea to Letras than fielding hundreds of phone calls was posting the photo on the department's website, so, he got together with the webmaster and arranged for it to appear on the site immediately after Peterson's booking.

The crowds of press personnel, protestors, supporters and curious onlookers that had gathered outside the jail to await Peterson's arrival were all informed about the website. However, that caused it to nearly crash because of the overwhelming number of hits.

Although posting the photo helped to reduce the initial volume of phone calls, Letras and the Sheriff's Department were still swamped by the press.

"It was pretty crazy," Letras said, noting that the department had never experienced a media frenzy like that before.  "I couldn't answer every phone call."

When Letras did find time to check his messages, usually around two or three o'clock in the morning, he would get four or five more while he was listening to them.

"It was so hectic," said Letras, who would record information requests on a notepad and cross people off the list after he talked to them.   

One thing that Letras discovered in hearing the media's requests was that many reporters were interested in obtaining the same information.  For the purposes of accuracy and efficiency, the department once again turned to the Internet.  They developed a website strictly for the media, where information was posted, including frequently asked questions pertaining to visitation and interviews with Peterson.

"[The website] really has been our saving grace through this whole entire thing," Letras said.  "It really helped us a lot."

Letras and his staff went inside the jail and took digital photos for the website and posted all of the information about Peterson's incarceration that the public was entitled to know.  And, as more information becomes available, the site is updated.

As far as actually speaking to the media, Letras, like Chief Ryan, has been careful to keep it simple.

"We try to focus on generalities, being very careful not to release any information about security procedures," Letras said.  "We try not to focus on Scott Peterson, himself," he added.  Instead, Letras talks about maximum-security inmates in general.

Having previously worked in jails has helped Letras describe Peterson's conditions of confinement to the press.

"I came from custody so I was pretty familiar with the routine of day-to-day jail life," Letras said.  So, when he has to answer questions about what Peterson ate for dinner, Letras is prepared to do so.

Throughout Peterson's incarceration, though, Letras feels that the press has been very cooperative.

"One thing that we found is that the press is fairly reasonable," Letras said.  "It's been very beneficial to us to actually work with the media [to find the best way to disseminate information]."

According to Letras, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department has learned a lot about dealing with intense media attention because of Peterson's incarceration.

"We hit the ground running and thought we were ready," said Letras, admitting that the department was not as well-prepared as it initially thought.  "It was kind of trial and error."

Throughout this hit-or-miss process, the department figured out a few things about media relations when it comes to high profile inmates.

"Whatever you do with one media outlet, you need to be prepared to do with all them," Letras said.  "Stay consistent and don't show [favoritism]."

Also, Letras pointed out, make sure that someone from the department is available to provide information to the press.

"The media has their job to do," Letras said.  "If they don't have anybody giving them information, they're going to go with whatever information they have," he added.

Even with the department's informational website, Letras still makes sure to return reporters' phone calls as quickly as he can.  "People want to talk to a person, not just leave messages on [someone's voicemail]," he said.

Finally, Letras, like Ryan, notes the importance of preparation.

"As soon as you know you're going to have a high profile case, begin preparing for it," he said.

Separate Species

While preparation is essential in handling the media when they swarm a corrections agency to dig up details about a high profile inmate's incarceration, so, too, is knowing what information should be made available to the public.  Also, it is important for corrections personnel to put some facts out there for the media, so that they aren't forced to search for information, which may not be accurate, on their own.

Both the Orange County Corrections Department and the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department were prepared for the arrival of their high profile inmates and the two agencies were careful to follow sound media relations principles when providing information to the press.

But, an overall key to success for corrections agencies faced with high profile media events is understanding the inherent differences between the media and corrections, according to Szpanka, who has worked in both fields.

"The media and law enforcement are two separate species," said Szpanka, implying that corrections is focused on security and the media is concerned with information dissemintation.  "They're looking for different kinds of prey."

Resources

To contact Rick Rosenthal, call (847) 446-6839

To contact Debbie Szpanka, call (843) 470-3215

To contact the Orange County Corrections Department, call (407) 836-0326

To contact Tom Letras or to find out more information about The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department media website, call (209) 525-7045