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Communications committee advances media best‑practices draft for executive review
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Summary
The Columbia River Gorge Commission communications committee reviewed a 14‑page best‑practices guide for media inquiries and social media, endorsed core principles including transparency, and agreed to refer the draft to the executive committee and full commission for formal consideration.
The Columbia River Gorge Commission communications committee on a regularly scheduled meeting reviewed and advanced a draft best‑practices guide meant to clarify how commissioners and staff respond to media inquiries and social media issues.
Committee members said the draft — presented by Commissioner Alex Johnson and prepared as a 14‑page decision framework — is intended to set expectations about when the commission or staff should respond publicly and when commissioners should stay silent. "It's a 14 page document. It's not gonna be able to be exhaustive, so it's more meant to be, like, you know, purpose and some guidelines," Alex Johnson said while introducing the draft.
Why it matters: Commissioners said consistent guidance could speed responses when factual errors appear in coverage, reduce confusion about staff versus individual commissioner statements, and help manage public records questions about personal social media posts. Johnson summarized the approach: "If they're completely misquoting, mischaracterizing, making something up, about a position I have, then I do expect the commission to have a public response, and I expect it to be, yeah, very clear." The committee emphasized transparency as a guiding principle for all responses.
Details: The draft addresses channels for response, scenario‑based decision pathways, and social media considerations. Christina (staff) noted Oregon guidance can make certain personal posts subject to public records rules when they relate to commission business, a distinction committee members said should be clarified in the document. Members suggested a short checklist and a periodic, short briefing of communications trends for staff to follow.
Next steps: Commissioners agreed the communications committee should move the draft to the executive committee for consideration and then to the full commission. The committee did not adopt the policy at this meeting; members supported referring the draft for formal review at the next executive/commission meeting so staff have a voted document to apply in challenging media situations.
The committee also approved the March 12 meeting summary by voice vote and heard brief reports on website analytics and outreach.
