APPROVAL TO ACT ON IDEAS RESULTING FROM THE PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
12
Document Creation Date: 
December 19, 2016
Document Release Date: 
September 29, 2005
Sequence Number: 
6
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 6, 1980
Content Type: 
MF
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3.pdf546.07 KB
Body: 
STAT Approved FoIease 2005/11/28: CIA-RDP86B0098q k Central Intelligence Agency Washington, D.C. 20505 (703) 351.7676 Herbert E. Hetu Director of Public Affairs 12 May 1980 STAT Forwarded for your information is a decision memo on the recommendations of the Public Communications Conference which required DCI/DDCI approval. Also attached is a copy of the conference proceedings, which includes other recommendations where progress is currently under way. Please telephone me orb Hof my office (extension if you have any questions. Attachments: a/s STAT STAT STAT Approved Forielease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B0098000100030006-3 6 May 19 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence THROUGH: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence FROM: Herbert E. Hetu Director of Public Affairs SUBJECT: Approval to Act on Ideas Resulting from the Public Communications Conference 1. Action Requested: Approve the recommendations shown in paragraph 3 below. 2. Background: The Office of Public Affairs hosted an Agency- wide conference on public communications at a site out of town on 11-12 March 1980. The objective of the conference was to exchange views among those activities who communicate with the public and to examine the efficacy of those communications. The house rules of positive brainstorming prevailed. We also acted on the premise that our recommendations could not require increased money, people or facilities. All Directorates were represented and we surprised our- selves to learn the sizable number of components involved in communicating with the public in one way or another. A list of conference participants and summary of the conference are attached. 3. Among the several useful ideas of the conference are four which we would like to pursue with your approval. Discussion and approval lines are provided below. a. On a fairly regular basis various Agency components independently develop a variety of advertising, recruiting and related informational materials that are released to the public. The shortcoming is that there is no "quality control" center to review these materials for professionalism, accuracy, con- sistency and to obviate unnecessary work when suitable materials might already exist elsewhere. The Public Affairs Advisory Group, with representatives from all components, could perform this coordinating task and avoid the creation of a new mechanism. Recommendation: Approve the Public Affairs Advisory Group acting as_a clearinghouse for the purpose stated above. DISAPPROVED: Y MAY 19$n 86800985 ntra Intelligence Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985MOO100030006-3 b. Factual information on topical issues is often made available to the public and press that is never made available to Agency employees. The result is that our people are often poorly informed, confused by what they read and sometimes embarrassed by their ignorance. Existing measures (briefing training programs, inviting queries on news items, bulletin boards) are effective but insufficient. Recommendation: Public Affairs conduct on a trial basis a weekly (or periodic) in-house news conference for interested employees, at which anyone might question a PA officer on Agency responses on topical issues and news items. APPR: /'2 _ DISAPPROVED: entral Intelligence Director of Central Intelligence c. Recruiting literature tends to stick strictly to the essentials of the recruiting message, thereby missing an opportunity to enlighten the large receiving public on the role of intelligence and importance of CIA. The Armed Forces learned years ago to use recruiting literature at least in part for educational purposes, and has done so very effectively. Recommendation: Public Affairs work with Recruitment to insert appropriate basic information on intelligence in advertising materials. Director of Central Intelligence d. We have few ways to measure and evaluate public percep- tions of the Agency. Use of recruiters or recruiting materials for this purpose could be utilized with great effect to ascertain why those applying are interested in CIA employment and how they formed their perception of the Agency. In so doing we would not wish to overburden the recruiter or hamper the primary purpose of the recruiting mission. Recommendation: Public Affairs work with Recruitment to devise a feedbac mechanism to guage public perceptions of the Agency. Director of Central IntelligencE Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved Forlease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985JA00100030006-3 4. Recommendation: By signing the above approvals, authorize Public Affairs to initiate action on these proposals. Mere Attachments: a/s Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For F Nease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985WO0100030006-3 MEMORANDUM FOR: THE RECORD SUBJECT: Summary of Public Communications Conference, 11-12 March 1980 1. The Public Communications Conference convened at 1450 hours on Tuesday, 11 March 1980. Representatives were present from all Agency components who are required in the course of their business to communicate with the public. A list of participants is attached. The Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Herbert E. Hetu, welcomed the participants and-expressed the hope that the conference would be conducted in a positive vein. In that context, he pointed out the four goals to be discussed and hopefully achieved during the conference: a. Learn why and how others are communicating with the public; b. Learn how better to support one another; c. Learn how to communicate better; d. Develop positive steps to improve communications. Mr. Hetu established that the rules for "brainstorming" would apply, i.e., that no idea would be prejudged or discarded out of hand. He also announced that conference recommendations should avoid any expectation of increased money, people or facilities, but should focus instead on existing resources. 2. The first seminar, led b the Chief/Plans and Policy Branch, Office of Public Affairs, was entitled, "Forced Public STAT Communications - Who in CIA Must Communicate with the Public." Chuck led off by describing briefly the different ways in which the Office of Public Affairs communicates with the public (mail, visits, media inquiries, etc.). Conference attendees were then called upon to provide short summaries of their mandatory communications with the public. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For Release 2005/11/28: CIA-RDP86B00985000100030006-3 Recruitment Larry cited some surprising statistics in the as isca ye on the number of: applicant contacts (104,000); formal applications (55,000); and actual interviews (16,000). This work is handled by the Washington Area Recruitment Office and 11 offices around the country. The recruitment effort encompasses visits to some 300 university and college campuses a year, contacts with private industry, work with specialized groups (NAACP, Urban League), and parti- cipation in minority career.days and career trainee classes. Many of these contacts are a result of the Agency's advertising campaign which has grown in recent years. Larry described training the recruiters receive before being assigned to a field office. It was suggested that recruiters might spend some time in the Public Affairs Office before going to the field in order to learn what support OPA can provide. FF'01 1: Barbara said it was a misconception to assume the Office of EEO existed only for complaints. The most important goal of EEO is educating the public in what EEO does at CIA. EEO works diligently with blacks, hispanics and women and is engaged in the upward mobility program. They stressed that they were not recruiters but did work closely with the recruitment offices. Their biggest effort in dealing with the public involves participation in minority group conferences/conventions around the country where they tell the CIA story. Office of Data Processing Ed stressed that ODP has STAT contact with a very specialized public--those in the computer fielu. Questions posed to those in ODP when outside the Agency are, for the most part, computer related. He is actively engaged in recruiting in his field. STAT Office of Trainin The Office of Training is not STAT as heavily involved with iepu is as some other components; however, there is contact through Brookins Institution luncheons, briefings given by OTR brief the CIA guest speaker program, seminars, and external training. discussion ensued as to how the Office of Public Affairs could support OTR's faculty representatives and CIA students at civilian or governmental institutions. A suggestion was made that faculty representatives and students come to OPA for support briefings before starting their tours. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For elease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B009& 000100030006-3 NFAC/Academic Relations Mal cited the heavy partici- pation of NFAC personnel in rs/conferences because of the diverse skills (44 different academic disciplines) among people in NFAC. 'There seems also to be growing interest in student visits to the Agency for topical briefings. One problem noted is that there is not an available and appropriate conference room on the first floor for the briefing of students and other visitors. Public Affairs and EEO share this problem. STAT Legislative Counsel Rodger STAT stressed that OLC was responsible for the ow OT InTurmdulull from CIA to and from Congress. Public contacts consist mainly of Congressional mail (the subjects of which in many instances culminate in briefings); personal contacts with Congressional staffs; and fulfilling requests from Congress for speakers before constituent groups. General Counsel General Counsel contacts are limited. There is some minor recruitmenTeeffort for attorneys and contact with Congressional staffs on legislation (charters, etc.). The bulk of OGC's work entails litigation (there are presently 150 lawsuits pending against the Agency; over half are FOIA cases). IS The ISS contacts with the public are related to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, Mandatory Review and the appeal cases. The Director of Public Affairs ended the afternoon session by saying that none of us should forget Agency retirees. Since they are out in public speaking they can be very helpful to us and should be supported. 3. The conference reconvened in the evening to discuss, "Materials We Can Share." The Director of Public Affairs gave an overview of the unclassified materials available for release to the public and other participants discussed their own materials. During the ensuing discussion one obvious shortcoming was identified: there is no central "clearing- house where unclassified publications/presentations are reviewed for professionalism, accuracy, consistency or redundancy. It was suggested that the Public Affairs Advisory Group take. on this task. Regarding an unclassified brochure on the Agency itself, the idea was put forward that there be one brochure containing tear sheets on the specialized components/directorates of the Agency. The session ended with a review of pertinent video tapes and the EEO conference display. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For .l lease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B0098 000100030006-3 4. The followin mornin session began on the theme, "Better Coordination." Chief/Media Relations Branch, Office of Public Affairs, led the discussion by explaining his role in dealing with the media/public. He identified his means of coordination before responding to inquiries and listed the backup materials available to him in responding (DCI/DDCI testimony/speeches, internal regulations, official statements, Church/Rockefeller Commission reports, etc.). The question was raised as to whether significant questions and answers could be recorded and distributed to those who have official Agency contact with the public, which would prove very helpful to those in the position of being questioned. Mr. Hetu brought up the fact that a lot of questions and answers are perishable, i.e., the information changes from day to day. There was consensus, however, that many standard "oldies-but-goodies" questions and answers could be compiled for Agency use. Factsheets on topical issues were also thought to be helpful. 5. Continuing the theme, "Better Coordination, Chief STAT of OPA's Speakers Bureau, described the formation of the bureau and its goal: to raise the public understanding of the Agency through the "in- person" approach; and through this approach dispel some of the myths still associated with the Agency. Recruitment and DCD made the point that when speakers are scheduled to go on trips into their "territories," they would like to be informed so that follow-up contacts can be made. Another suggestion was that the Speakers Bureau could provide services for recruiters and NFAC personnel by providing them with information/handout materials before they left on trips. The point was raised that there should be a formalized set of guidelines (do's and don't's) for those speaking on behalf of the Agency--something which is lacking at the present time. 6. The midmorning session, "Better Communications with the Public," was moderated by He began by raising some questions: (1) Are we taking full opportunity of every audience we have; (2) Are we analyzing audiences beforehand; (3) Are we hitting the issues when speaking; (4) Are we telling them what they want to know--are we telling them the right things. During the general discussion it was decided the most difficult problem is getting feedback from audiences indicating how effectively we are communicating. Two possible approaches were considered: (1) Having recruiters ask one or two questions of potential applicants; (2) Getting Congressmen to pose one or two questions regarding CIA in their monthly newsletters. The first suggestion was considered the more practical. 7. The afternoon session focused on, "Better Communications with Each Other." A long discussion followed on internal Agency communications. The main thrust was that no one can change human nature--there is always going to be a segment of the Agency/society that is unhappy and no matter what anyone does they aren't going to be turned around by better communications. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For'1lease 2005/11/28: CIA-RDP86B0098Wb00100030006-3 -5- The closed circuit television system was mentioned with no real consensus as to its usefulness. STAT STAT STAT STAT A newspaper-format newsletter was proposed to replace all the single sheet pieces of information now distributed to employees. An OPA news conference was proposed to be held weekly or whenever there is interest from employees on getting answers to topical questions regarding the Agency. This derived from the observation that more accurate information was being given to the media and public on critical issues than was getting to our own employees. The suggestion was made that this idea could be presented to Management Advisory Groups (MAG) for their reaction. A lengthy discussion of the "DCI Notes" ensued--the general opinion was that although some past subjects were thought to be inappropriate for placement in the "Notes," it was a good vehicle of communications from the DCI to employees. The one missing ingredient, however, is that there is no .feedback mechanism to indicate what employees want the DCI to explain or comment on. Subjects for future "Notes" were raised -- SAVAK and torture, Martin Luther King assassination involve- ment and charter legislation. Again the MAGs were suggested as a forum in which to find out other topics that might be included in future "Notes." The session ended with a novel observation: Maybe some employees should quit grousing and just get back to work! 8. In the final session Mr. Hetu called upon several attendees around the table to express their thoughts on the conference. SA/DCI Thought conference was good idea-- helped to further achieve two DC goals: (1) try to get the Agency to work more closely together; (2) achieve a controlled openness policy. O/DDS&T Thought conferehce was well worthwhile in surfacing problems and e t attendees should keep in contact with one another to iron out future problems, help out when needed and to measure progress. OLC Felt conference went well and stated that like it or not openness is here to stay and that we must get on with it. Again reiterated the need for some form of guidelines/factsheets/questions and answers to be provided for those representing the Agency outside. DDO Felt conference had shown that there must he a focal point (Office of Public Affairs) through which the openness policy can be controlled. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved For=-,&lease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B0098000100030006-3 -6- Mr. Hetu ended the conference by summarizing the conference conclusions: Recommended: Requires DCI Approval --Use the Public Affairs Advisory Group to coordinate unclassified information materials designed for public distribution. --For the benefit of employees, Public Affairs conduct periodic in-house news conference to answer topical questions on media stories about CIA. --Incorporate more information about CIA per se into recruiting l i terature. --Use recruiting literature to solicit evaluative feedback from the public on its perceptions of Agency effectiveness. Recommended: Requires Staff Action/Coordination Only --Include Public Affairs in training and indoctrination of new recruiters. ---Include Public Affairs in pre-departure briefings of CIA students and faculty representatives to outside institutions. ---Public Affairs provide current Q's and A's to other Agency components who communicate with the public. ---Public Affairs inform DCD and Recruitment when Agency speakers are scheduled into their areas. ---Public Affairs solicit items appropriate for "Notes from the Director" from various Management Advisory Groups. -?-Public Affairs reconvene the Public Communications Conference in about six months to measure progress of these proposals. Not Recommended: Impractical or Infeasible for Conference to Act on at this Time --Use Congressional liaison to find ways to get Congress to measure public perceptions of CIA. --Develop a single in-house publication that would consolidate a number of existing internal publications. Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Approved Forielease 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00980.0100030006-3 --Dedicate an intermediate-sized conference room on the first floor of Headquarters to the use of components sponsoring public groups. --Alter Publications Review Board procedures so that former employees submit manuscripts through Public Affairs instead of the General Counsel, which seems unduly threatening. The Chairman thanked all the participants and expressed the hope that they would return to their components and share what they learned from the conference. Mr. Hetu also noted that a record of the pro- ceedings would be forthcoming for any appropriate follow-up action the participants would like to take. There was consensus that the time at the conference had been well spent. The conference adjourned at 1545 hours. Herbert E. Hetu Attachment: List of Attendees Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 STAT Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3 Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2005/11/28 : CIA-RDP86B00985R000100030006-3