Last month, Reuters journalist and blogger Ed Stoddard identified what he termed to be "a fundamental PR problem" for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Despite frank statements by church leaders and an expanding worldwide membership, misinformation and misconceptions often plague the church's relationship with the media.
"It may have renounced polygamy over a century ago, but the breakaway sects which continue to practice plural marriage are the ones that often catch the public eye," Stoddard wrote. "[This leads] to the popular misconception that all Mormon men have, or strive to have, more than one, often underage wife."
The media circus surrounding Texas authorities' raid on the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas, hasn't done much to bring popular opinion in line with reality. While national and local media have generally made the correct distinction between the two churches, LDS public affairs manager Rob Howell said international news organizations have been less accurate.
"The French news agency Agence France-Presse initially posted on its Web site a photograph of the Salt Lake Temple along with the story of the raid on the polygamous compound," Howell said. "Several major Russian media outlets continued to associate the church with the polygamous sect despite requests to correct reports."
Howell also identified related problems with Mexican radio reports identifying the polygamous sect as the LDS Church and other reports in Bolivia, the Caribbean, Uruguay and Colombia that failed to make the distinction.
Despite these problems, Howell said few reporters have contacted the church believing it is affiliated with the FLDS sect in Texas.
"Reporters have not contacted us very often for clarification on what is happening in Texas," Howell said. "The problem lies with reporters who do not contact us and instead write articles that are misinformed."
Dealing with misinformation is nothing new to the church, which has taken an increasingly active role in informing and correcting news organizations. In November of 2007, Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Quentin Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve visited the editorial boards of several national newspapers in Washington and New York to explain the church's beliefs. Howell said the goal of such visits is "to build good relationships with media and decision makers in those areas." The church also has staff both at its headquarters in Salt Lake City and offices in key cities around the world that actively monitor articles and news reports to correct errors or misrepresentations. Howell said most news organizations are happy to make corrections.
"They are generally receptive and grateful to understand accurately," Howell said. "Others, again more internationally, have needed a bit more convincing."
The challenge for church public affairs is that the sheer volume of media today makes it impossible for church officials to catch every mistake.
"There are too many people participating in the conversation about the church for our church personnel to converse with and respond to individually," Elder Ballard said in an address to BYU-Hawaii students last December. "We cannot answer every question, satisfy every inquiry and respond to every inaccuracy that exists."
Elder Ballard went on to encourage all church members to do their part to define the church's message rather than let others define their beliefs for them. He urged college students to use blogs and other new media to put out the right information and to write to news outlets that publish erroneous reports about the church.
"Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from news media reports that are often driven by controversies," Elder Ballard said. "Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on people's perceptions of what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is."
