PR lessons from falsehoods about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio

A PR nightmare ignited in Springfield, Ohio, in early September when baseless claims about a surge of Haitian migrants into the community started spreading on social media. A few days later, Donald Trump added fuel to the growing crisis by repeating the already disproven rumors during a live presidential debate.

“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump falsely said of the legal immigrants in the small community outside Dayton. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country.”

Although the Springfield Police Department had already debunked Trump’s message, the quote and the sentiment around it persisted in the political discourse as well as through widely shared memes and social chatter.

Following comments, the area experienced more than 30 bomb threats at state and local government buildings and schools, prompting closures and heightened security measures. Many local Haitians also voiced fear for their safety.

The Springfield team did a solid job of responding to the situation with correct information and positive talking points after the fact, said Kathryn Metcalfe, a former CCO of CVS Health and Deloitte, but said it felt like the city was caught off guard. She didn’t fault them. In fact, she said most organizations would be these days.

“Companies are not ready for misinformation and disinformation, and the American public isn’t really ready for how to determine if something is real or not,” she added.

The Springfield incident was a perfect storm of circumstances – a presidential election, a small town caught off guard, and a sensational narrative to share online. The speed and volume of misinformation should have been an “alarm bell for all communicators,” Metcalfe said.

For Springfield, the ordeal began after a lengthy Facebook post from local resident Erika Lee. End Wokeness, a politically conservative account on X, shared the post, which contained almost entirely bad information about a neighbor’s missing cat, things spiraled from there.

“Springfield is a small town in Ohio.\4 years ago, they had 60k residents.\Under Harris and Biden, 20,000 Haitian immigrants were shipped to the town.\Now ducks and pets are disappearing.”

These situations are difficult to handle for any organization. But Metcalfe said there are best practices that can help address them before they do real damage to their reputation or bottom line.

Establish a proactive narrative

Metcalfe, currently a professor at NYU, said the situation in southwest Ohio showed how quickly misinformation can spread, even when faced with factual refutation.

The falsehoods had been debunked before the debate, yet Trump shared them anyway. Debate moderated David Muir immediately corrected Trump on-stage. Yet the false information continued to spread.

This highlights the importance of having a “proactive narrative” in place to combat misinformation or bad headlines with the story you want to convey, Metcalfe said. That involves delving deep into an organization’s inner workings to identify potential vulnerabilities. Understanding those will allow you to come up with responses to questions or maybe even reframe the story. But that’s difficult when the organization in question is a town of 60,000 most had never heard of with a small communications staff.

Springfield did have a proactive narrative, to some extent. Days before the lies about immigrants hit critical mass, a major story ran in The New York Times that highlighted the immigrants – both the challenges and the successes. “By most accounts, the Haitians have helped revitalize Springfield,” the story noted.

After being thrust into the national spotlight, Springfield created a frequently asked questions page specifically focused on immigration. It sits prominently on its homepage. The page plainly dispels the unfounded rumors about eating geese as well as those about

Haitians committing crimes. It also provides a counter-narrative of why the city experienced an increase in migration, noting that it was primarily due to an influx of legal immigrants looking for a great place to live and find a job. Immigrants are working factory and warehouse jobs, according to the FAQ, and they’ve also started 10 businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores.

“Springfield is an appealing place for many reasons including lower cost of living and available work. These conditions are thought to be the primary reasons for immigrants to choose Springfield. Now that there are numerous immigrant families residing in our community, word of mouth is adding to our population, as this communal culture is sharing their positive experiences about living in our community with family and friends who are also seeking to leave the impoverished and dangerous living conditions of their home country.”

“Having your thoughts, story and data ready at a moment’s notice is crucial, because these situations move fast, as we saw,” Metcalfe said.

Leverage third-party messengers

Part of recovering from a reputational challenge like the one in Springfield is setting the record straight and advancing a different narrative. One way to do that is to identify key messengers and influencers who can help share your story with targeted communities.

In Springfield, those messengers included Lee, responsible for the original Facebook post about her neighbor’s missing cat. She went on national TV and stated on the record that she had no firsthand knowledge of an immigrant’s involvement in the disappearance.

“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” she told NBC News.

The city also received public support from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Springfield native. He wrote a more than 1,200-word guest column for The New York Times entitled “I’m the Republican Governor of Ohio. Here Is the Truth About Springfield.” The piece outlines that the city has faced challenges, but it remains a great community largely because of the residents, including the new Haitian arrivals.

“The Springfield I know is not the one you hear about in social media rumors. It is a city made up of good, decent, welcoming people. They are hard workers — both those who were born in this country and those who settled here because, back in their birthplace, Haiti, innocent people can be killed just for cheering on the wrong team in a soccer match.”

For a company facing a similar situation, Metcalfe emphasized working to identify the most important influencers, whether it’s through on-camera appearances, community meetings or social media, to help share your message in the New York Times.

“The mission disinformation problem is so big, it’s going to easily overwhelm any one company, organization or municipality,” Metcalfe said. “You can’t go it alone.”

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.