[council] Regarding communicating task force/committee work with the press and other outside groups

[Bruce Tonkin]

Hello All,

At various times, members of task forces, committees and the Council are
approached by the press to comment on the work of a task force,
committee or Council.  Some members also operate blogs to keep the
community informed.

I recommend we take the following approach:

(1) An individual member should not speak on behalf of a task force,
committee or Council with respect to current proposed recommendations.
Normally people should be referred to the current official report or
minutes of a meeting.   The appropriate chair of a group would normally
present the current proposed recommendations in an agreed document.

(2) An individual member is free to provide their own opinions on a
preferred or potential outcome of a particular group.  Ie feel free to
speak for yourself :-)

(3) An individual should not quote another individual out of context.
In general if you are asked what someone else (either individual,
business, group etc) thinks - then direct people to either an audio
recording, a transcript, minutes, or a posting on a public mailing list.

Note that our work by its nature results in many discussions, drafts,
and proposals for future policy.  We need to be careful that we clearly
communicate the current status of any recommendation.  E.g "under
discussion", "proposed by a task force member", "proposed by a task
force in an Initial Report" etc.  

I am interested in feedback on the above, as I think it would be useful
to include in future to brief new members of a group.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin