Bad News Redeux

First Family Church in Kansas City had a really bad day on Sunday. A huge front page piece in the Kansas City Star raises serious questions of financial irregularities, issues of nepotism, and a lack of accountability and transparency in the business of the church. It is a major, multi-month investigation on the church. They make no comment on the church's doctrine or theology. It's entirely focused on the financial questions. The story has already hit the blog world.

I'm not going to comment on the substance of the questions. I will say that the stories, on their face, are fair. First Family is given ample opportunity to comment and explain. Most of the questions raised are brought not by the paper, but by others. The reporter, Judy Thomas, then goes to national experts for opinion on whether the practices in question are standard in churches, and if they represent any ethical problems.

Overall, it's a solid piece of reporting. Full disclosure... Judy and I are old friends, and I will tell anyone who asks that she's one of the most careful and thorough reporters I've ever seen. I can also tell you she's a person of faith, who would not attack a church, simply to attack a church.

Let's take a look at the response of the church. Not stellar. They did make the Senior Pastor Jerry Johnston available to answer questions on two occasions. That's good. Then they handed it off to an external consultant. OK, but don't eliminate access to the principals. They promised documents, and then never delivered them. In the end, they cut off communications with the reporter.

That's bad.

Pretty clear that First Family is dealing with a "bad news" situation here. The article makes it pretty clear, they don't think there's anything wrong.

I've said before that the first rule in dealing with bad news is to get it out FIRST, FAST and WIDE.

Maybe that's not the first rule. Or maybe it's simply predicated on an assumption, namely, that you have high integrity, you're going to tell the truth and acknowledge when something is wrong.

In any case, even if you don't think you've done anything wrong, there is nothing to be gained by cutting off communication with a reporter. That just makes you look guilty. The public will assume you have something to hide. It chums the water and encourages a reporter to keep looking for dirt.