Two problems: The training flyer that promoted the course ignored the heightened racial and community sensitivity, and apparently ignored the reality that what is intended for police distribution will also go to the public. Note, there is nothing too out of line with referring to the media as "900 pound gorillas" or "animals" or "wolves." Media trainers and crisis communication experts use such terms somewhat frequently. Unfortunately, in the public information environment in St. Louis regarding the police, it isn't a stretch to see how some might think these were intentional racial slurs.
While the PR Daily story linked above highlights the problem of the description used, I have a more significant issue with this flyer. It seems to ignore that the problem with Ferguson police communications wasn't a lack of training for media spokespersons. It was a lack of understanding that in many respects the media don't matter anymore. Of course, they matter. But what was really missing in Ferguson is the slow response plus lack of any Web or social media presence. This let everyone else control the story. And it left the media to rely on everyone else for the facts in the crucial early hours. This was the real issue as I pointed out before and linked to an outstanding analysis of this by Chief Joel Shults.
I shouldn't jump to conclusions, and I'm sincerely hoping that police agencies in the St. Louis area are bringing in some communication experts to enlighten them on the role of digital communications and particularly Twitter. I just hope when they announce the training course they don't use a teaser such as "Learn to Tweet like a 900-pound gorilla."
