Specific Ground Rules

Media Access Policy and Operations

References:

National Response Plan (NRP)

Purpose

The purpose of this appendix is to outline policy and guidelines for the Federal domestic incident management media access program.

Rules of Engagement

For the safety and security of DHS units and media, media will adhere to established ground rules. Ground rules will be agreed to in advance and signed by media prior to access. Violation of the ground rules may result in the immediate termination of the access and removal from the disaster scene. These ground rules recognize the right of the media to cover JFO/Federal response operations and tell the stories of their important work.

Evaluations regarding media access will be granted with the following considerations:

National Security: Operational security or classified information must be protected.

Law Enforcement: Media access will not granted if ongoing law enforcement operations or the prosecution of forthcoming legal action will be jeopardized.

Safety: Safety is paramount for all ESF 15 media access. Media will not be permitted to access with Response and Recovery teams if there is a significant risk of harm.

Local Approval: The Federal response to disasters is at the request of local officials. At all times, response units will abide by local officials commands and wishes. Local officials may restrict media access to some disaster areas and those prohibitions are outside of our control.

The following rules must be followed to sustain a media access with a Federal response unit:

Prior to the media access, media must provide proof of credentials and display credentials while participating in the access program.
During the access, media must comply with the previously agreed to rules.
The media is responsible for loading and carrying their equipment at all times.
Media may live, work and travel as part of the units with which they are afforded access.
Media will pay their own lodging expenses if staying at a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast or other commercial facility, as well as food and other travel expenses.
Media will deploy with the necessary equipment to collect and transmit their stories, if required.
Media must remain with their assigned unit at all times and shall not wander away from the unit or put the unit in any potential harm. Media may terminate their access opportunity at any time. However, if the access is in a restricted access location, media will be expected to adhere to ground rules until they can be transported outside of the restricted area. The Unit PAO or assigned team POC will provide, as the situation permits and based on the availability of transportation, movement back to the nearest location with commercial transportation.
All interviews with Federal employees or employees of Federal contractors during the media access will be on the record unless stated otherwise.
Media with access to units are not permitted to carry weapons.
Media may report on type of units involved, characteristics of those units (size, number of personnel, types of resources they bring to bear, etc.)
Media may report on names and hometowns of unit members, but only after obtaining their consent.
If a media representative is killed or injured in the course of the disaster response/recovery operation, the unit will immediately notify ESF 15 offices. FEMA HQ and DHS OPA will contact the reporter's own media organization(s), which will make next of kin notification in accordance with the individual's wishes.

Medical facilities, children, wounded or injured people

The following procedures and policies apply to coverage of fatalities and wounded, injured, and ill civilians and personnel:

Media representatives will be reminded of the sensitivity of using names of individual casualties or photographs they may have taken which clearly identify casualties. The deceased are the responsibility of the respective state until next of kin can be notified and the authority to report this information must be granted by state authorities.
Media visits to medical or mortuary facilities will be in accordance with applicable regulations, standard operating procedures, operations orders and instructions by attending physicians. Local officials may restrict media access to some disaster areas and those prohibitions are completely outside ESF-15/DHS OPA/FEMA OPA control. Any violation of this guideline will be grounds for immediate removal from the program.
Reporters may visit those areas designated by the facility commander, but will not be allowed in operating rooms during operating procedures.
Permission to interview or photograph an adult patient will be granted only with the consent of the attending physician or facility commander and with the patient's informed consent, witnessed by the escort.
"Informed consent" means the patient understands his or her picture and comments are being collected for news media purposes and they may appear worldwide in news media reports.
With adult patient permission, media can photograph, videotape, record and interview that adult patient in waiting areas or between medical procedures with the understanding that the adult patient may rescind their permission at any time, that unit leaders may rescind the adult patient's permission on their behalf if doing so would be in the best interest of that adult patient; and with the understanding that medical procedures always take precedence and that any medical authority may end any interview at any time to perform such medical procedures.

Immunizations and personal protective gear:

Media organizations should ensure that media are properly immunized before embedding with units. Recommended immunizations will vary from disaster to disaster. A general guide for immunizations would include tetanus, hepatitis a; hepatitis b; and possibly vaccinations against mosquito-borne illnesses. Before traveling, check with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), your FEMA OPA contact or your doctor.
Because the use of personal protective gear, such as helmets, may be mandatory at some disaster scenes, media will be responsible for procuring/using such equipment at the direction of the unit leader. Whenever possible, FEMA OPA will give as much direction as possible on additional needed gear before departure.
Media may be authorized and required to use additional personal preparedness equipment including nuclear, biological, or chemical protective equipment, firefighting turnout gear, wildfire fighting gear, Urban Search and Rescue safety equipment or other gear. Information on that gear will be provided before access. Unit leaders may provide gear on a temporary loan basis or reporters may be required to provide said gear, with specifications provided by FEMA OPA at their expense.

Security:

Federal personnel shall protect classified information from unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure. Media provided access to sensitive information will be informed in advance by the unit leader or his/her designated representative of the restrictions on the use or disclosure of such information. When a question regarding reporting specific material, media will consult with the unit leader or his/her designated representative.
The nature of the access process may involve observation of further sensitive information, including federal employee deployments and movements, response and recovery preparations, response capabilities and vulnerabilities and other information. When a unit leader or his/her designated representative has reason to believe that a media member will have access to this type of sensitive information, prior to allowing such access, he/she will take prudent precautions to ensure the security of that information. The primary safe guard will be to brief media in advance about what information is sensitive and what the parameters are for covering this type of information. If media are inadvertently exposed to sensitive information, they should be briefed after exposure on what information they should avoid covering.
The Federal response to disasters is at the request of local officials. AT ALL TIMES, response units and media provided access to the units will abide by local officials commands and wishes. Local officials may restrict media access to some disaster areas and those prohibitions are completely outside of our control. Travel into disaster sites will be coordinated through local public information officials and local authorities. If local authorities forbid media from entering sites, accessed media will abide by those orders.
Media and PAOs will, at all times, follow any orders of the unit leader on-scene or his/her designee. If there are concerns, the PAO will discuss them with the unit leader, but the unit leader's decision will be final.

Other:

Media will travel with PAO or designated team POC with the understanding that the POC is not a personal guide into the disaster site nor will the POC be responsible for providing other disaster information outside the scope of the Unit's work. Reporters understand that the opportunity for access with the unit's means that there may be long periods of time without much discernable action while units await assignment. And reporters understand that they may miss other events or stories related to the disaster while accessed with the team.
When purchasing gear, please consider the wide range of temperatures possible. For cold-weather gear, consider bringing clothing made out of polypropylene versus cotton and clothes that have wind-resistant or moisture-wicking features.
News media personnel must carry and support any personal and professional gear they take with them, including protective cases for equipment, batteries, cables, converters, etc.

Last Modified: Monday, 09-Apr-2007 14:08:22 EDT