How and when you and your law enforcement team work together to engage the media will change over time. With time not on your child’s side, intense, early publicity within the first 48 hours is the best way to generate leads from the public. This should be handled by law enforcement to ensure the right information is released in a format best suited for media’s use. Robust broadcast media coverage — enhanced with the issuance of an AMBER Alert or Endangered Missing Alert — often yields powerful public attention, and has increasingly resulted in powerful outcomes, such as abductors releasing the child.
Your biggest challenge will be understanding how the media operates. Traditional media (printed and online newspapers, broadcast television, and radio) are largely driven by large media conglomerates, with journalists serving as reporter, photographer, and videographer. Nontraditional media (primarily social media and streaming video services) are increasingly curated by quick-acting “influencers” aiming to beat journalists to the punch by announcing breaking news (and stirring public reaction in the form of views, re-posts, and likes).
The public will remain interested in a compelling story that is presented across multiple platforms. In your child’s case, law enforcement’s goal is to provide credible and timely information to reputable media outlets. Visual content (images and video), combined with an engaging title and introductory information, are more important than ever to catch the public’s attention in a cluttered, ever-changing news feed delivered in a 24-hour cycle.
Law enforcement should involve their Public Information Officer (PIO) early on to navigate these dynamics, keep you informed, and answer your questions throughout the case. This will ensure your safety and well-being, the integrity of the investigation, and skillful collaboration with the media.
How to increase public awareness in your child’s case
Media attention generates leads and keeps your story in front of the public. The following ideas can increase awareness while encouraging volunteers to help. Work with your PIO ahead of time to ensure these efforts are approached carefully and done in a way that protects you, your family, and your child’s case.
- Appear on radio, TV, digital and print news outlets, social media sites, podcasts, and at events to discuss your child’s disappearance.
- Consider writing an open letter to your child on their birthday or the anniversary of their disappearance. Here is a moving example from Patty Wetterling.
- Hold an assembly at your child’s school with music, posters, candles, and shared messages of support.
- Ask your child’s school to organize a letter-writing campaign to politicians, the media, or your state legislature.
- Develop buttons or T-shirts with your child’s picture and a special message.
- Hold a prayer or candlelight vigil.
- Organize a concert or benefit auction to raise funds for a favorite charity.
- Give a special award to the law enforcement officer who serves as your primary contact.
- Ask area sports teams to include pictures of your child in their programs and make public service announcements at games.
- Plant a tree or dedicate a memorial garden in your child’s name. You can also ask local businesses to dedicate these types of displays to pay tribute to your child.
- If your child has been abducted out of state or to another country, share information about state, federal, and international efforts to bring them home.
Checklist: Working with media in the first 48 hours
This ensures accurate information is provided, and in a format best suited for the media. Follow up with your investigator or PIO to ensure contact is being made as swiftly as the investigation allows.
Make sure that person’s cell phone number is only shared with the media, not the public.
Seeing your face and hearing your voice will motivate viewers to look more closely at the picture of your child and to search harder for them. Yet it’s important to honor your limits. If you are uncomfortable being interviewed, ask someone you trust, such as a close friend, your child’s teacher, or a religious/spiritual advisor, to speak on your behalf. Try to stand beside your spokesperson during an interview. It will help the community recognize your face in future media coverage, and allow you to become more comfortable with the process.
This can be frustrating to news editors, who may opt not to cover your story if they think it will be confusing or produce inaccurate or misleading information.
This kit can contain your child’s information, missing person flier, photos and video clips, and more.
Always make the protection of your child, by safeguarding the investigation, a top priority.
Social media and neighborhood news sites are ideal avenues for sharing your missing child’s poster.
Consult with reporters to find out the best times to conduct them. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. is ideal for broadcast reporters, as it gives them enough time to prepare stories for prime-time news shows.
Know that you have limited mental and physical resources, and will not be effective if you are overwhelmed or exhausted. If you have an opportunity to appear on a popular radio or television show on a national network, give this engagement top priority.
Sometimes local stations can rerun portions of your interview with a national affiliate.
Any concerning content should immediately be sent to your PIO or investigator. Watch for multiple appearances by one individual, or comments indicating knowledge of personal or confidential information not previously revealed, which may help pinpoint either the perpetrator or persons close to them. Do not engage with online trolls.
Media Kit Basics
Having a readily accessible media kit will ensure all reporters have the same accurate information, reducing the time you and your PIO spend answering basic questions. You should be able to email the kit through an online file-sharing server or provide it on a portable flash drive. (Ask a tech-savvy volunteer to help you with this important task.) The kit should include the following:
- A complete description of your child and the clothing worn at the time of disappearance.
- Law enforcement-approved information about the suspect in your child’s disappearance and a description of any vehicle known or suspected to be used or missing.
- A description of the place where your child was last seen.
- High-resolution digital photos, video clips, and a copy of your child’s missing poster or flier.
- Information about websites or social media sites being used in your child’s recovery.
- A phone number and/or email address (not personal ones) for the public to use for possible leads.
- Details about a reward if one is being offered.
Interview Dos and Don'ts
- Schedule interview times and locations that are best for you and your PIO, and accommodate the media production/airtime schedule.
- Don’t let the media take anything from your home or touch anything that is off limits during the investigation. This includes your child’s room, belongings, toys, etc.
- Articulate the most crucial information in every interview (your PIO can help you prepare for this). Be consistent in how you discuss information pertinent to the case (as vetted by your law enforcement contact). Refer to the “Media Kit Basics” sidebar in this chapter for thoughts and ideas.
- Don’t discuss information that your law enforcement or PIO representative has advised you to keep confidential. Work with them in advance to make sure you don’t disclose sensitive case details.
- Never publicly criticize law enforcement. Even if you are unhappy with someone or something, resist the temptation to publicly complain about your child’s case. This type of information often goes viral throughout the media. Air and discuss issues and concerns in private. Ask Team HOPE and family advocates for help, if needed.
- Include your child’s picture in every interview. Make sure the picture accurately depicts your child. For related advice, see the “Photo and Flier Best Practices” checklist in this chapter.
- Cover the most important topics and information first. Keep your responses to simple 10- to 20-second sound bites to make sure your messages are received.
- Make your child relatable by sharing stories about their wit, interests, and most endearing qualities.
- Maintain control of the message. If a reporter digs a skeleton out of the closet, don’t be afraid to say that a previous event has nothing to do with your child being missing. Take the high road by only sharing information meant to help bring your child home.
- Be patient with young or inexperienced reporters. If asked inappropriate questions, you don’t have to answer them and don’t have to explain why.
- And remember:
- You do not have to answer every question.
- Nothing you say is “off the record” — no matter what you are told.
- You do not have to be interviewed if you feel uncomfortable.
- The media does not control you. Only you control you.
Checklist: Long-term assistance from the media
“Media fatigue” can unfortunately occur when top stories no longer yield updates for “breaking news” – usually after one to two weeks. To counter that, consider these ways to keep your child’s case in the public eye.
Sometimes professionals working in the field of public relations donate their services to parents of missing children, which can be a tremendous help.
Send a news release or schedule a press conference on an important day, such as National Missing Children’s Day (May 25), your child’s birthday, or another significant event.
Add links to well-reported news features.
Tell them you want to work with them to keep your child’s case alive through new approaches to the story (as guided by your law enforcement team).
If a reporter takes a special interest in your child’s case, they can devise ways to return it to the spotlight. Maintain a list of important publicity sources, and your interactions with them, for future reference.
Assignment editors decide which stories to cover and the reporters to be assigned. If you plan an event, let the news organization know what is happening by emailing them a news release at least a week in advance. Follow up a day or two before the event to express your hope that they will cover it.
Bring in someone new to discuss the case (as guided/agreed upon by your investigator). Other family members or friends close to the case, politicians, psychologists or helping professionals, and appropriate public interest figures can increase public interest and sustain coverage.
In the beginning, you likely will not want to do this; interest will be high, and you will want the widest coverage possible. (Also, granting an exclusive interview to one news organization over another can create tensions that may impede future coverage.) Later on, offering an exclusive may be the best way to revive an editor’s interest in covering your child’s case with a focus on updates that can reengage the public. (Consult with your investigator or PIO beforehand.)
If you need volunteers, training, printing, or equipment that is expensive or not readily available, ask the media to broadcast your request. Give a wish list to local radio stations; they are often willing to publicize such appeals as a public service. This not only can provide you with the help you need, it can also be another way to remind the public to keep looking for your child.
The media may turn up at any time and any place, asking for information. For your child’s sake, conduct yourself at all times as if all eyes were upon you. Realize you no longer have the same privacy you once had. Do not do things that will cast you or your family in a negative light. Ultimately, however, you should continue to live your life as necessary to ensure normalcy and well-being.
Don’t take on more than you can handle. Lean on your PIO and media volunteers, and recognize that you are in the driver’s seat, not the media. Take good care of yourself to remain strong for your missing child and the rest of your family. See chapter 5 for ways to sustain your well-being.
Checklist: Photo and flier best practices
Good-quality digital photos are best. Ask family and friends for photos or videos taken at their last birthday party, holiday celebration, sports event, or school outing.
Remember that posters and fliers will show the head, neck, and top of the shoulders. Candid shots are fine if the facial image is clear. Photos that show your child from different angles will not allow viewers to get the true “picture” of your child. The goal is to have someone instantly recognize them.
They also tend to engage the hearts of viewers, inspiring them to be on the lookout for your child or volunteer to help.
Most photographers will be glad to give permission once you explain your situation.
You or your volunteer poster coordinator can ask printers to produce the fliers either for free or at a discounted rate.
Use them for buttons, handouts, reward posters, yard signs, mailings, labels, and more.
Have them track where your child’s poster has been shared (locations and websites). And plan to remove fliers when your child is found.
Locations can include buses (inside and out) and other public transport vehicles, at bus and subway terminals, tollbooths, rest stops, parks and recreational areas, and in federal and state buildings. By Presidential memorandum, federal agencies may be required to post fliers of missing children in their buildings, or have programs to receive photos from NCMEC to disseminate in official publications. Ask your investigator, PIO, or NCMEC for help if needed.
Reach out to neighbors, friends, and local businesses. Request that churches and civic organizations email the poster to their members. Ask NCMEC, your state missing child/persons clearinghouse, and regional nonprofit missing children organizations to distribute your child’s picture or poster via their networks and social media sites.
Contact the companies whose name or logo is shown on billboards you see; they may offer to donate their use for your child’s missing poster or related information.
Have volunteers create a calendar of popular events such as sports games, county fairs, festivals, and concerts.
Because people see ads daily across various websites, digital billboards, and social media platforms, the messages they carry often get lost in all the digital communication. Printed fliers and posters of your missing child create a sense of urgency when an individual receives one, accompanied by a request for help.
NCMEC’S PHOTO SERVICES
Plug into the photo distribution services offered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. NCMEC posts photos of missing children on its website, missingkids.org. The organization has circulated billions of photos and coordinates national media exposure through its partnership with traditional and social media outlets, television networks, and other organizations. Give the media a copy of the NCMEC poster as well as a link to its website.
Morgan Nick made by NCMEC
When desired, ask for help with NCMEC’s age-progression services. Call 800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678) or go to missingkids.org/ourwork/caseresources. The image above is what forensic artists created to depict Colleen Nick’s missing daughter, Morgan, in 2020. Learn more about how age progression photos are created.
NCMEC case management personnel are on call to make emergency posters and distribute photographic images 24/7.
Checklist: Enlisting the help of legislators and other public officials
The media often takes special interest in publicizing cases in which political figures are involved.
Besides participating in interviews and press events, prominent officials can assist with placing your child’s missing poster in numerous public places, such as federal, state, and local agencies.
If motivated by political objectives not aligned with the work of protecting children and bringing missing children to safety, and if rushed to suit election cycle battles, they may seek to use you, your child’s case, or your family for their own self-interest.
Build relationships by sending regular updates to the congressional staff members assigned to your child’s case. Staff members often change positions, so regular followup will help you maintain current contact information. Also consider that while your child’s return is your top priority, the congressional staff member with whom you are working must respond to hundreds of constituent requests. Be courteous, yet persistent.
