Lynn Walsh

This story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD launches Myth Busters web page to ‘clarify misinformation’
Wed Jul 28 11:41:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

HISD is shaking up the way the district handles media relations and communications by adding a new page to its website titled “Myth Busters,” apparently intended to refute negative stories about the school system that appear in the local press.
The “Myth Busters” page appeared on the Houston Independent School District’s website over the weekend “to clarify misinformation or rumors,” the page reads. The new page has appeared less than three months after the school system hired a new communications director, one who recently said the system “may need to get better at communicating.”

Does the name “Myth Busters” sound familiar? It’s also the name — minus the space between words — of a popular TV show on the Discovery Channel that uses scientific experiments to verify or debunk urban legends and modern-day folklore, such as whether driving a car with the windows open uses more gas than driving it with the air conditioner running.

(The federal Transportation Security Administration also has a similar “Myth Busters” page on its website. According to online trademark databases, the Discovery Channel has sought, but not yet received, a trademark for the name “MythBusters.” A voicemail left with a Discovery spokeswoman Tuesday afternoon was not returned.)

HISD’s Myth Busters’ first post, published Friday, provided the district’s response to recent media reports that detailed possible funding shortfalls for summer school and other programs. “While principals may have to pay for some summer school costs out of their budgets, it will not be anywhere near the $19 million being reported in the media,” Myth Busters said.

The next post came Sunday, after Fox 26 reporter and Houston blogger Isiah Carey’s post on special education cuts in HISD. The level and quality of special ed services won’t suffer because of the cuts, Myth Busters said.

HISD did not return a call for comment on Monday. District spokesman Norm Uhl sent an e-mail to a reporter Tuesday apologizing for not returning the call.

The new web page “already resolves two myths — one regarding a reduction in special education teacher positions, and the other regarding funding for summer school, prekindergarten, and the Apollo 20 project,” the district said in a press release Tuesday.

In an interview with My Fox Houston, a local expert in social media raised concerns about the new website.

“They call it ‘Myth Busters.’ They’ve already established that everything they’re going to talk about is a myth,” Brian G. Smith, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Houston, told Fox. “Second of all, the problem is, they’re not putting any information on there where people can come back and give feedback and say, ‘Well, I heard this.’ There is no back and forth.”

HISD’s response? According to the Houston TV station:

“HISD would only respond with a written statement saying it’s working to ensure the community has up-to-date and accurate information about the district. It continues with, ‘As any large company knows, rumors can spread quickly and take on a life of their own, even when factually incorrect. The purpose of the new Myth Busters page on our website is to help clarify misinformation and dispel rumors.’”

The new pages come just months after HISD hired Aggie Alvez as new chief communications officer. She is responsible for overseeing six departments at HISD, including media relations.

Last month at an HISD board workshop meeting Alvez said, “I have received a few subtle messages that we may need to get better at communicating.” Some suggestions included new websites in different languages and more use of video.

“The mistrust has been engendered, people think that we are out there and we are talking the talk but not walking” the walk, Alvez said. “As the message gets filtered down it changes; what (the HISD trustees) say isn’t exactly what a teacher may hear in a classroom or a parent may hear.”

Watch Alvez’s entire comment in the video below.

Another change: HISD will not hold a media roundtable in August, and it is unclear whether the once-a-month question-and-answer sessions with HISD Superintendent Terry Grier will resume.
“We have a couple of press events associated with the beginning of the school year coming up,” Uhl said in an e-mail Tuesday. He didn’t elaborate and added, “more to come on that later.”

In the past, the press chats with Grier, which lasted up to two hours, happened once a month.

Texas Watchdog questioned HISD’s ban on the use of cameras during the media roundtables earlier this year. HISD said cameras were not allowed because they hampered dialogue. Back in April, Uhl elaborated:

“That is counterproductive to what we are trying to do,” Uhl said. “We want to get back to what it has always been, an open and honest conversation. It works better for reporters because they can get more information and ideas for future stories. Sometimes Grier will mention topics he is not ready to go on camera about.”

Texas Watchdog wants to know what you think about HISD’s new Myth Busters website. Do you believe the information is credible, or is it just another public relations tool for the district?

Let us know by leaving comments or sending us messages on Twitter, @TexasWatchdog or @LWalsh. Also, be sure to search #HISD on Twitter for the most recent school news in Houston.

Also reporting:
Houston Press
West University Examiner
My Fox Houston