September 3, 2025 • 21 mins
A shooting inside a Minneapolis church during a back-to-school Mass left two children dead and several others injured. The Annunciation Catholic School community was shattered. The country watched. And almost immediately, public officials and school leaders stood in front of microphones, tasked with speaking into heartbreak.
In this episode, examining what was said—and how it was said—during the press conferences that followed.
Joining the conversation with Molly is Greg Floyd, evening anchor and investigative reporter at WRGB-TV in Albany. A six-time Emmy winner with multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards, Greg brings deep experience in live coverage, newsroom leadership, and the complexity of reporting local stories with national weight.
Together, we break down the structure, tone, and delivery of each speaker—from elected officials to faith leaders—and explore what communicators can learn from how these moments were handled.
What We Cover:
- The context behind the headlines: children, a church, and the first week of school
- Mayor Jacob Frey’s restrained approach, and why one line (“These children were praying”) shaped the narrative
- Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s directness, structure, and use of the repeated-question technique
- Principal Matt DeBoer’s calm, clarity, and emotional authority—including a powerful reflection on older students protecting younger ones
- The possible public misstep by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and the risk of correcting others in a crisis moment
- How local media elevated the story’s tone, and why Twin Cities press markets matter in national perception
- The visual language of crisis: from rolled-up sleeves to school-branded t-shirts
- Why the absence of scripts—and the presence of emotion—can carry more weight than any prepared statement
Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.
Follow Molly on Substack
Subscribe to Molly's Weekly Newsletter
Subscribe to Molly's Live Events Calendar.
Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.
This podcast is supported by Muck Rack, the PR management platform I use to monitor media coverage, track journalist activity, and inform high-stakes strategy with real-time data. Click here to try Muck Rack for yourself.
Follow & Connect with Molly:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Molly McPherson (00:00):
There are no words that can capture the
horror and the evil of thisunspeakable act that was
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry andthis week's episode of the
podcast.
I just want to take a look atthe events that happened in
Minneapolis.
This is going to be a differentepisode one because I have a
co-host joining me longtime newsanchor investigative reporter,
(00:21):
greg Floyd.
Greg, thank you for joining methis week on the podcast.
Greg Floyd (00:24):
Thank you for having me, Molly.
I wish it was a happier podcast.
Molly McPherson (00:27):
Yeah, this is not the best topic for you and I
to jump in on a podcasttogether, but you're the one who
alerted me to what had happenedand I didn't even know that
this happened in Minneapolis.
Longtime listeners know I'mfrom the Twin Cities.
I've talked about things thathave happened in the area,
certainly in 2020, with thekilling of George Floyd and then
, more recently in June, thekilling of state representative
(00:48):
Melissa Hortman, along with herhusband, and the shooting of
another state representative,john Hoffman I think his name is
in his wife, yvette so there'sa lot of things happening in
Minneapolis.
Greg Floyd (00:58):
It's a lot for a community to bear when you
really think about it.
Molly McPherson (01:01):
It is, and this one rattles you because it's
children.
It's so much.
This is a hard topic, but thereason I thought to do the
podcast episode about this inparticular is because I've been
watching the news reports.
I've been watching the pressconferences, you've been
reporting on it, watching andreporting, and it's tough.
Greg Floyd (01:18):
Even as you and I were going over the clips again
here right now, we get emotional.
There is so much emotioninvolved because it is children
involved.
I hear that one line aboutolder children protecting
younger children.
Think about what played out inthat church?
Molly McPherson (01:30):
Yeah, okay.
So even though this is aMinneapolis story, clearly this
is a national story.
Greg Floyd (01:34):
Yeah, this is a human story.
Molly McPherson (01:36):
Oh, a human story.
Oh, that's interesting how yousay that.
So we've watched these again,but you and I have not given
each other's feedback on this atall.
So let's look at it from ananchor point of view.
And also, reporter, you putpackages together, you've been
to press conferences, you knowwhat to look for.
And then I want to give mythoughts from a PR, crisis
management, media trainingperspective, and I don't think
(01:59):
we're going to look at this in ahighly critical way.
I really want to look at allthe important elements that are
critical, just when a situationlike this happens.
Greg Floyd (02:07):
Yeah, I would agree it's still raw.
It really is so overall.
Molly McPherson (02:11):
There's Jacob Fry.
He's standing there.
You and I are looking at thepress.
So this is the morning that ithappened.
The visuals here this is anaudio podcast, but many people,
I'm sure, saw the clips.
If you didn't watch it ontelevision, you watched it on
social media.
Greg, from an optical point ofview, like we're looking at the
optics, you've been to pressconferences before.
(02:33):
You've had to put packagestogether from a press conference
.
What do you think?
Looking at Jacob Fry right nowstanding at one mic and what's
happening behind?
Greg Floyd (02:38):
I think he's still in a state of shock.
He's still stunned.
This is his community.
He's acting in this newsconference as an advocate for
the families and for thechildren and for his community.
And again, he's a Democrat,doesn't matter In this case,
he's also a human being.
A couple of times he goestoward what could be the cause
of this, but he quickly getsaway from that, I noticed, and
(02:59):
just keeps going back to thechildren and the families in the
community.
Molly McPherson (03:02):
What was the line?
What was really like the bestsoundbite?
If you will, that got grabbed.
Did you notice it when you werereporting on it?
Greg Floyd (03:08):
I assume you're talking about thoughts and
prayers and these children werepraying and obviously you know
that is a standard.
That's the politics of it.
Some people offer thoughts andprayers and other people say,
well, that's not enough.
I think that's what he's tryingto say there, without getting
too deep into the politics of it.
Molly McPherson (03:24):
Don't just say this is about thoughts and
prayers.
Right now, these kids wereliterally praying.
It was the first week of school.
They were in a church.
These are kids that should belearning with their friends.
As a news anchor, as a reporter, when you hear a statement or
read a statement about thoughtsand prayers, what does it mean
to you?
Greg Floyd (03:43):
It means they're trying to deflect from some of
the causation.
Molly McPherson (03:47):
Yeah, and he leveraged it into what I think
is probably one of the bestsoundbites I have ever heard in
a tragedy and he did it in aminimalist way.
Greg Floyd (03:57):
He didn't keep going back to it and pounding his
fist about it.
He said it once and he movedback to the families and once
was enough.
Molly McPherson (04:03):
So the optics of this.
So him standing there no jacket, he's in front of law
enforcement.
So just looking at this phototell me about the optics on this
and what you see.
Greg Floyd (04:13):
I don't want to get into the politics.
I just bend over backwards tonot be political.
But it does look like he's ahands-on guy who's there and
who's stunned by this becauseit's his city, it's his people.
Molly McPherson (04:23):
Now, just from a media training aspect.
Let's say you're there, what doyou think when the backdrop is
just all police here?
And then you see the policetrucks and everything like where
they set this up, and also onemic.
There's no lectern.
What happened to the days ofall the mics here?
Is this just one pool mic?
Greg Floyd (04:40):
Yeah, there's a moat box down there that all the
mics are being plugged into.
This shows the enormity of itall those police vehicles and
all these people who are there.
You've got senators and thegovernor.
Actually, he was at a differentone.
I think it just shows theenormity of it and the fact that
they want to try to give thecommunity some answers and some
reassurances as quickly as theycan.
Molly McPherson (04:58):
Also just from an optics point of view.
He's not wearing a jacket.
He's not wearing a jacket, he'snot wearing a tie.
Just recently he's on the job,exactly, and I recently gave
that advice to a client who wasspeaking, and that's exactly
what we wanted to show.
I said roll up the sleeves andtake the jacket off, because now
you're getting down to business, which really I think that's
what he's doing.
He's doing the job as a mayor,and that's what mayors are there
(05:21):
to do.
They're there to respond andthey're there to also offer
information, but really is totake control.
Greg Floyd (05:27):
Yes, and he's trying to show that.
And again he's trying to showhe's the advocate for his city,
for his families, and he wantsto make sure the right messages
get out about the families.
Molly McPherson (05:36):
And would you say you were watching this from
a journalist point of view.
How do you think he did?
Greg Floyd (05:41):
I think it came across very well.
Molly McPherson (05:42):
I want to move on to the next person, and this
is Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
This took place in Minneapolis,but in St Paul for years you
would hear police chiefs theyall had the last name, like
O'Hara.
Greg Floyd (05:54):
This is like such a throwback, commissioner O'Hara,
sure.
Molly McPherson (05:56):
So he's standing here.
Same thing at the same mic,which I do think it makes it
less chaotic, like that, which Ido think it makes it less
chaotic like that you don't seethose mic flags anymore from all
the stations.
Greg Floyd (06:05):
Right.
Who's there, who's not there?
Molly McPherson (06:07):
Yes, you watch this from a chief point of view,
from a police chief.
How do you think he did?
Greg Floyd (06:14):
Very no-nonsense, very straightforward, trying to
get at the facts he could andbeing honest.
He was honest when asked aquestion he either gave the
answer or said I don't know theanswer.
Molly McPherson (06:23):
Yeah, I like that when people can admit they
don't know the answer.
Greg Floyd (06:25):
Yeah, this is an evolving situation, a developing
situation and again, Imentioned the word raw before.
It's all still so raw.
He hasn't seen this before, I'msure Two dead children and more
than a dozen others hurt.
Sure, he's a tough guy, policechief, but he's human and this
has got to be hard for himstanding right there.
Molly McPherson (06:40):
Now here's a question I have that took place
here.
This is when he repeats thequestion a lot.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
How many children?
I don't have an exact.
The question was how manychildren at the school?
Molly McPherson (06:52):
OK, so do you hear how he repeated the
question?
The first time that I listenedto it, we could hear it, because
the question from the press,from the reporters, are picked
up on the mic so everyone canhear the question.
Then he repeated the question.
I know he wants to make surethat everyone hears, but is that
necessary?
Greg Floyd (07:10):
I think it is.
I think he's a man who knowsthat he has a television
audience, the entire cities ofMinneapolis and St Paul and the
state of Minnesota and thenation.
He realizes that Repeating thequestion can also give you a
chance to regather your thoughts, gives you a chance to repeat
it Now it's in your head againand now you can give a good,
coherent answer.
Molly McPherson (07:28):
Yeah, so I'm mixed on it because, on the one
hand, because he had to repeatthe question every time, I think
it made it difficult from anediting point of view.
They always had to edit thatpiece out.
But you're absolutely right, itdoes allow you time to gather
your thoughts.
But saying it over againactually helps you come up with
a good answer, because you'realready saying the first answer.
Greg Floyd (07:50):
I think he's consciously trying to help the
television audience not knowing.
Are they hearing the question?
Well, his answer makes sense ifyou don't hear the question.
So he's taking care of that too.
So he's accomplishing a coupleof things with that, I think.
Molly McPherson (08:02):
So 100%.
He was media trained.
Greg Floyd (08:04):
Absolutely yeah, and he was media trained Absolutely
.
Molly McPherson (08:05):
Yeah, and he did a great job.
Now the next one was theprincipal Now on your newscast.
Did you ever watch theprincipal at all?
Did you ever talk about theprincipal or use any of his
quotes?
Greg Floyd (08:15):
I was watching it live and yes, we did, because,
again, I mentioned it beforewhen he said it was older
children protecting youngerchildren.
That gives you such a visual inyour head.
There was a little boy, notobviously in the news conference
, but who was a soundbite of him, was used over and over, who
talked about how he dropped tothe ground and then his friend,
victor covered him up.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head.
My friend Victor like saved methough, because he laid on top
of me, but he got hit.
He's really brave and I hopehe's good in the hospital.
Greg Floyd (08:49):
And again that puts such a visual on your head, and
I mentioned you before and Ihaven't done it yet.
I want to find out who Victorwas and what became of Victor.
We know that all the otherchildren survived, but who is
Victor?
I haven't seen a story abouthim yet and I want to.
Molly McPherson (09:01):
Yeah, that is an incredibly touching story.
Now, speaking about thestudents and the kids.
One other spokesperson whowe've seen a lot in the press
Matt DeBoer.
He's a principal enunciation atCatholic school.
He went up again to the mic.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
We lost two angels today and please continue to
pray for those still receivingcare.
We can't change the past, butwe can do something about the
future.
There's an African proverb thatsays, when you pray, move your
feet.
So I beg you, I ask you toplease pray, but don't stop with
your words.
Let's make a difference andsupport this community, these
(09:40):
children, these families, theseteachers.
Never again can we let thishappen.
Molly McPherson (09:45):
Also noticing so far all the videos that we
watch.
No one had notes or note cards.
Greg Floyd (09:50):
Yeah, you're right Again.
It just happened and they'rereacting in real time to a real
tragedy.
Molly McPherson (09:56):
And different from a lot of press conferences
we see, where there's a lecternwhere people will have notes or
in some cases they might evenbring out a teleprompter.
Every person coming up wasstanding at one mic, looking out
at a sea of reporters and justchaos behind, and they're
speaking so clearly andcoherently and with just such
compassion.
Greg Floyd (10:15):
Yeah, you're right.
I think many of them knew thatthey had to be.
They were going to be a voicefor the families and for the
students, and the calm and theway they were all so gathered
and there may have been abriefing right before too the
facts as they had them wereprobably fresh on their minds.
But again, some people, likethe principal DeBoer, were not
just talking facts, they weretalking feelings and emotion,
(10:37):
and you don't need a note cardfor that.
Molly McPherson (10:39):
Ooh, that's good, you don't?
You're absolutely right.
You just mentioned, though,that they had a briefing
beforehand.
What do you think what happenedbefore this press conference?
First, from just the news pointof view, the reporter point of
view, how do people know to goto the press conference, how
they know to show up, and whichtype of reporter are you sending
to cover something like this?
Greg Floyd (11:00):
You're acting quickly, you're sending your
best reporter and I bet each TVstation who's there has several
reporters there and they're allcovering different angles.
Some may only focus on theprinciple, some may only focus
on the politics of it, some arealso going to just want to focus
on the nuts and bolts.
How many are deceased, how manyare injured?
What do we know about theshooter?
There's one reporter who's justdoing a nuts and bolts story.
(11:22):
There's a reporter who's doingreaction story Minnesota.
They were on wall to wall forhours.
They're doing a number ofdifferent angles to this story.
Molly McPherson (11:30):
They're doing a number of different angles to
this story so you need a numberof reporters.
You just mentioned wall to wall, so I was watching some of the
live coverage back east andyou're watching in New York.
I happen to be watching thefeed from the station where I
used to work, the CBS affiliateWCCO in Minneapolis.
So this wall to wall talk aboutbeing a news anchor, because
you've had to anchor wall towall, I assume 9-11, election
(11:51):
night.
What is it like to be an anchor, having to cover a story like
this from the studio?
Greg Floyd (11:57):
There's lots of difficulties to it.
You don't want to say anythingwrong.
I was watching WCCO also and Idid hear them say a number of
times they made a real point ofit, saying we're not going to
put stuff on television that wesee on the internet, we're going
to put stuff on television thatwe know to be true.
We are not in a race to befirst, we're in a race to be
right.
Those are the exact words Iheard their anchors say a number
(12:19):
of times and I admire that.
But they also changed anchors anumber of times.
I had it on my desk all daylong so they had anchors coming
in, probably on different shifts, but that was a common theme I
heard throughout the day.
We are going to really try togive you the correct information
, not what we just hearwilly-nilly.
That could send you in thewrong direction and could end up
being misinformation.
Molly McPherson (12:39):
And that is so important nowadays because so
much information comes fromonline.
But also, when it's a tragedylike this, it's in the community
, it's families.
It's even more heightenedwhat's happening because you
have kids and thatmisinformation and rumor control
is so important.
Greg Floyd (12:55):
Absolutely.
We knew fairly quickly that itwas two young children, the
eight and the 10-year-old, whowere killed, and we had good
numbers on the number of injuredchildren and adults, and I
think that was important.
We also knew right away thatthe shooter had died, that at
least people then knew thatthere wasn't a threat to their
community, an immediate threat.
There was no government outthere.
This was all importantinformation to let the community
(13:16):
know where things stood.
Molly McPherson (13:17):
Now let's move back to the press conference.
Let's talk about the principal.
So the first time he came outand you could see his
back-to-school uniform he'swearing khakis.
He had a pink shirt.
He was wearing like a lightgreen tie.
He looked like a great Catholicschool principal.
He even has the cross aroundhis neck.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
To any of our students and families and staff
watching right now.
I love you, you're so brave andI'm so sorry this happened to
us today.
Molly McPherson (13:45):
How do you think he did when he came up to
the mic?
Greg Floyd (13:47):
I thought he did pretty well.
He gave you a really goodpicture of what the church and
the school is like.
As I watched this, I keptgetting pictures painted in my
head because I thought that thespeakers, he and the mayor did a
good job of painting thatpicture and you could just tell
that this was a man who washeartbroken for his children.
Molly McPherson (14:05):
And he kept talking about his children.
I thought he was exceptional.
Now, all the people that we'vementioned so far typically are
in front of a microphone.
A mayor is going to be in frontof a microphone.
A police chief?
They're going to be trained.
They're all going to be trained.
But a principal is nottypically media trained.
I've actually trained aprincipal in the Twin Cities
(14:26):
area, but it was for a differenttopic, but they're used to
standing in front of a room andcapturing people.
Greg Floyd (14:33):
Right.
They may not be media trained,necessarily, but they're public
speaking trained.
They know how to get theirmessage across to parents and
students and, in essence, thatis who they were talking to.
They were talking to a nationfull of parents and students who
were watching this.
Molly McPherson (14:46):
Oh well, said I like that how you said a nation
of parents.
Yeah, because he put it down tohis audience.
He was like, speaking to theaudience.
He's typically speaking to youand I both mentioned that.
We watched the ArchbishopBernard Hebda press conference.
I had him speak here.
He's also done a lot of mediainterviews Again someone else
who's most likely been mediatrained, and priests, again, are
used to speaking in front ofcongregations.
(15:07):
They're used to being publicspeakers, but he did something
at his turn at the mic that youand I both noted.
Greg Floyd (15:12):
I would never want to correct a principle, but
Principal DeBoer said it wasn'tso clear where would be the
source of hope?
Molly McPherson (15:18):
And, brothers and sisters, we have to be men
and women of hope.
Greg Floyd (15:23):
He corrected the principle which I don't know.
It was a little bit of a nailson the blackboard moment for me,
whether he agrees with theprinciple said or not about hope
, that's what he was correcting.
He says I hate to correct aprinciple and then he talked
about his version of hope.
And everybody's flying by theseat of their pants here,
obviously, so I can't fault himtoo much, but I wish he hadn't
used that terminology.
Here's this principal who, it'samazing, he's not in tears and
(15:45):
capable of even speaking andhe's so eloquent.
And then to say I got tocorrect the principal on a
matter of opinion, not fact.
Again, everyone there is doingtheir best in an untenable
situation.
Molly McPherson (15:57):
I think what happened is, I think, the
principal.
He was memorizing a lot ofthings.
He was quoting scripture and aproverb, an African proverb.
I think he had so many thingsin his head.
I think he misspoke, I think,when he said there isn't hope.
I think he wanted to saythere's always hope, but he just
misspoke and he just kept going.
Do you think he?
Greg Floyd (16:13):
misspoke, it could be.
He said it was just so brieftoo, what he said.
I think he said something aboutthere's no hope in what
happened today, and maybe hejust meant in that in the moment
of when it happened therewasn't hope, but now there's
obviously hope coming out of itbecause the community is coming
together.
So, yes and no, I'm not sure hemisspoke it.
May just he may not have usedthe very best words to get
across what he was thinking inhis head.
Molly McPherson (16:34):
I think he was trying to tie it together and
you could see how he plotted outwhat he was going to say and
how he was going to do it and Ithought it was great, and, like
you, for Hebda to come up andcorrect him was such bad form.
Greg Floyd (16:43):
The archbishop could have said it in a such
different way.
He could have said theprincipal mentioned hope.
I want to make sure people knowthat we do have hope going
forward.
And then not saying the words,I am correcting the principal.
Molly McPherson (16:55):
Exactly To go out of his way during a live
feed to correct it.
Yeah, I thought that wasincredibly bad form.
The next one was Harper Moiskey.
She was this 10-year-old girlwho was killed.
Her parents, not surprising.
They did not speak at themicrophone at all, but they
issued a statement.
Do you remember reading thestatement from the family?
Greg Floyd (17:15):
Yes.
Molly McPherson (17:15):
Okay, some of the things they said.
Harper was a bright, joyful anddeeply loved 10-year-old whose
laughter, kindness and spirittouched everyone who knew her.
And this line as a family, weare shattered and words cannot
capture the depth of our pain.
That writing is so true, isn'tit?
Greg Floyd (17:29):
And Harper's light will always shine on.
Yes, again, it's nice to learna little bit more about the
young person and about herfamily.
Molly McPherson (17:36):
I was surprised to see a parent get up to a mic
and speak.
Greg Floyd (17:40):
I have no idea how he was able to do that.
And he was strong and hepainted again that nice picture
of his son Fletcher, and he'sgot the principal's arm around
him the whole time.
Molly McPherson (17:50):
What did you think of that, though?
Because at first, when I saw it, I watched it on the phone.
My first initial response wasare these two dads?
That was my first thing, and Ihad to watch it on my computer.
Once I got a closer look, Iwent oh, it's the principal,
standing behind him with his arm.
Greg Floyd (18:06):
He does look different there in this shot.
He does look different, butobviously he was there to try to
give strength to the father whogot through this incredibly
well and heartbreaking to watchit is, and we got to learn a
little bit more about Fletcher.
Molly McPherson (18:19):
And it again humanizes, not that even just
the thought of an eight-year-oldbeing dead doesn't strike you
as a human, but he humanized hisson and the tragedy even more.
It's so heartbreaking to watch.
And when he stood there.
So he's standing in front ofthe church and it is their press
conferences here we see now abank of mics are there.
So it's not a typical all-handsJIC Joint Information Command
(18:41):
Center type of a situation.
This is a press conference fromAnnunciation, with what they
had to say.
He wore a shirt, a blue shirtwith birds on it, and I had to
take a moment to look at it, andtypically you wouldn't wear a
shirt like that at a pressconference.
But it made me wonder was thatFletcher's favorite shirt even?
Greg Floyd (18:58):
maybe Could be or it could just be a dad thinking
I'm not going to worry aboutwhat I look like in front of the
cameras.
The thought may not have evencrossed his mind.
He's thinking about his son andhis family.
Molly McPherson (19:08):
Yeah, and the principal who's standing?
He's dressed differently, he'swearing a t-shirt.
Future filled with hope, thebranding of the school, which is
something I encourage withclients a lot, especially at
press conferences when there'svideo.
Because sometimes you don'tknow, and even in my case, when
I was looking at my phone Ididn't know who that was.
I didn't know it was aprincipal.
But now when you're watching iton camera, even if you don't
see his name tag, which manypeople can't read it, you can
(19:30):
put it together easily.
So, from an opt-in point ofview, I do think it helps Little
things like this.
At the moment they may not seemlike they matter its
information and what I see withthe principal.
Greg Floyd (19:43):
there is the man who's advocating again for his
school.
He's not thinking I'm onnational television and I need
to put on a nice shirt and anice jacket.
I'm putting on what?
The name of my school.
I'm working to help familiesand help students.
There's so much to be done atthat school to help the
survivors not even the otherstudents who are injured, but
all the other students whoweren't injured and the trauma
that they're going to face for along time.
That's your point.
Man right there who's going tobe the man on the front lines
(20:06):
helping all those other studentscope with this.
What they saw and what theyexperienced it's like wearing
the t-shirt is just like what wetalked about with the mayor.
He's just a guy who's rollingup his sleeves and wanting to
get to work and help it.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Molly McPherson (20:17):
So, overall, watching this coverage and you
watched far more than I did, asyou said, it was on all day I
think our country is soaccustomed to disasters and
tragedy it's almost expectedPeople will turn on the
television anytime and think, ok, what's happened today?
There was something about thispress conference, or all the
press conferences that I waswatching.
Maybe it's just because it's myhometown, but I thought it was
(20:38):
incredible.
It was no-transcript it on thescreens.
(21:13):
Certainly, we're not going tomake this political in any way,
but this is a hard watch.
But boy was it an easy listento these people, to these
spokespeople.
So that's why I just wanted totake a moment in this podcast to
highlight and choose oneepisode where we could really
highlight the amazing work, notonly from the media market and
the Twin Cities and KSTP, wcco,fox, kmsp and also KARE 11.
(21:38):
The work that they did therewas wall-to-wall coverage, but
also all the spokespeople thatdid just an incredible job there
.
So that's all for this week onthe podcast.
Thanks for listening.
Bye for now.
There are no words that can capture the
horror and the evil of thisunspeakable act that was
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry andthis week's episode of the
podcast.
I just want to take a look atthe events that happened in
Minneapolis.
This is going to be a differentepisode one because I have a
co-host joining me longtime newsanchor investigative reporter,
(00:21):
greg Floyd.
Greg, thank you for joining methis week on the podcast.
Greg Floyd (00:24):
Thank you for having me, Molly.
I wish it was a happier podcast.
Molly McPherson (00:27):
Yeah, this is not the best topic for you and I
to jump in on a podcasttogether, but you're the one who
alerted me to what had happenedand I didn't even know that
this happened in Minneapolis.
Longtime listeners know I'mfrom the Twin Cities.
I've talked about things thathave happened in the area,
certainly in 2020, with thekilling of George Floyd and then
, more recently in June, thekilling of state representative
(00:48):
Melissa Hortman, along with herhusband, and the shooting of
another state representative,john Hoffman I think his name is
in his wife, yvette so there'sa lot of things happening in
Minneapolis.
Greg Floyd (00:58):
It's a lot for a community to bear when you
really think about it.
Molly McPherson (01:01):
It is, and this one rattles you because it's
children.
It's so much.
This is a hard topic, but thereason I thought to do the
podcast episode about this inparticular is because I've been
watching the news reports.
I've been watching the pressconferences, you've been
reporting on it, watching andreporting, and it's tough.
Greg Floyd (01:18):
Even as you and I were going over the clips again
here right now, we get emotional.
There is so much emotioninvolved because it is children
involved.
I hear that one line aboutolder children protecting
younger children.
Think about what played out inthat church?
Molly McPherson (01:30):
Yeah, okay.
So even though this is aMinneapolis story, clearly this
is a national story.
Greg Floyd (01:34):
Yeah, this is a human story.
Molly McPherson (01:36):
Oh, a human story.
Oh, that's interesting how yousay that.
So we've watched these again,but you and I have not given
each other's feedback on this atall.
So let's look at it from ananchor point of view.
And also, reporter, you putpackages together, you've been
to press conferences, you knowwhat to look for.
And then I want to give mythoughts from a PR, crisis
management, media trainingperspective, and I don't think
(01:59):
we're going to look at this in ahighly critical way.
I really want to look at allthe important elements that are
critical, just when a situationlike this happens.
Greg Floyd (02:07):
Yeah, I would agree it's still raw.
It really is so overall.
Molly McPherson (02:11):
There's Jacob Fry.
He's standing there.
You and I are looking at thepress.
So this is the morning that ithappened.
The visuals here this is anaudio podcast, but many people,
I'm sure, saw the clips.
If you didn't watch it ontelevision, you watched it on
social media.
Greg, from an optical point ofview, like we're looking at the
optics, you've been to pressconferences before.
(02:33):
You've had to put packagestogether from a press conference
.
What do you think?
Looking at Jacob Fry right nowstanding at one mic and what's
happening behind?
Greg Floyd (02:38):
I think he's still in a state of shock.
He's still stunned.
This is his community.
He's acting in this newsconference as an advocate for
the families and for thechildren and for his community.
And again, he's a Democrat,doesn't matter In this case,
he's also a human being.
A couple of times he goestoward what could be the cause
of this, but he quickly getsaway from that, I noticed, and
(02:59):
just keeps going back to thechildren and the families in the
community.
Molly McPherson (03:02):
What was the line?
What was really like the bestsoundbite?
If you will, that got grabbed.
Did you notice it when you werereporting on it?
Greg Floyd (03:08):
I assume you're talking about thoughts and
prayers and these children werepraying and obviously you know
that is a standard.
That's the politics of it.
Some people offer thoughts andprayers and other people say,
well, that's not enough.
I think that's what he's tryingto say there, without getting
too deep into the politics of it.
Molly McPherson (03:24):
Don't just say this is about thoughts and
prayers.
Right now, these kids wereliterally praying.
It was the first week of school.
They were in a church.
These are kids that should belearning with their friends.
As a news anchor, as a reporter, when you hear a statement or
read a statement about thoughtsand prayers, what does it mean
to you?
Greg Floyd (03:43):
It means they're trying to deflect from some of
the causation.
Molly McPherson (03:47):
Yeah, and he leveraged it into what I think
is probably one of the bestsoundbites I have ever heard in
a tragedy and he did it in aminimalist way.
Greg Floyd (03:57):
He didn't keep going back to it and pounding his
fist about it.
He said it once and he movedback to the families and once
was enough.
Molly McPherson (04:03):
So the optics of this.
So him standing there no jacket, he's in front of law
enforcement.
So just looking at this phototell me about the optics on this
and what you see.
Greg Floyd (04:13):
I don't want to get into the politics.
I just bend over backwards tonot be political.
But it does look like he's ahands-on guy who's there and
who's stunned by this becauseit's his city, it's his people.
Molly McPherson (04:23):
Now, just from a media training aspect.
Let's say you're there, what doyou think when the backdrop is
just all police here?
And then you see the policetrucks and everything like where
they set this up, and also onemic.
There's no lectern.
What happened to the days ofall the mics here?
Is this just one pool mic?
Greg Floyd (04:40):
Yeah, there's a moat box down there that all the
mics are being plugged into.
This shows the enormity of itall those police vehicles and
all these people who are there.
You've got senators and thegovernor.
Actually, he was at a differentone.
I think it just shows theenormity of it and the fact that
they want to try to give thecommunity some answers and some
reassurances as quickly as theycan.
Molly McPherson (04:58):
Also just from an optics point of view.
He's not wearing a jacket.
He's not wearing a jacket, he'snot wearing a tie.
Just recently he's on the job,exactly, and I recently gave
that advice to a client who wasspeaking, and that's exactly
what we wanted to show.
I said roll up the sleeves andtake the jacket off, because now
you're getting down to business, which really I think that's
what he's doing.
He's doing the job as a mayor,and that's what mayors are there
(05:21):
to do.
They're there to respond andthey're there to also offer
information, but really is totake control.
Greg Floyd (05:27):
Yes, and he's trying to show that.
And again he's trying to showhe's the advocate for his city,
for his families, and he wantsto make sure the right messages
get out about the families.
Molly McPherson (05:36):
And would you say you were watching this from
a journalist point of view.
How do you think he did?
Greg Floyd (05:41):
I think it came across very well.
Molly McPherson (05:42):
I want to move on to the next person, and this
is Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
This took place in Minneapolis,but in St Paul for years you
would hear police chiefs theyall had the last name, like
O'Hara.
Greg Floyd (05:54):
This is like such a throwback, commissioner O'Hara,
sure.
Molly McPherson (05:56):
So he's standing here.
Same thing at the same mic,which I do think it makes it
less chaotic, like that, which Ido think it makes it less
chaotic like that you don't seethose mic flags anymore from all
the stations.
Greg Floyd (06:05):
Right.
Who's there, who's not there?
Molly McPherson (06:07):
Yes, you watch this from a chief point of view,
from a police chief.
How do you think he did?
Greg Floyd (06:14):
Very no-nonsense, very straightforward, trying to
get at the facts he could andbeing honest.
He was honest when asked aquestion he either gave the
answer or said I don't know theanswer.
Molly McPherson (06:23):
Yeah, I like that when people can admit they
don't know the answer.
Greg Floyd (06:25):
Yeah, this is an evolving situation, a developing
situation and again, Imentioned the word raw before.
It's all still so raw.
He hasn't seen this before, I'msure Two dead children and more
than a dozen others hurt.
Sure, he's a tough guy, policechief, but he's human and this
has got to be hard for himstanding right there.
Molly McPherson (06:40):
Now here's a question I have that took place
here.
This is when he repeats thequestion a lot.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
How many children?
I don't have an exact.
The question was how manychildren at the school?
Molly McPherson (06:52):
OK, so do you hear how he repeated the
question?
The first time that I listenedto it, we could hear it, because
the question from the press,from the reporters, are picked
up on the mic so everyone canhear the question.
Then he repeated the question.
I know he wants to make surethat everyone hears, but is that
necessary?
Greg Floyd (07:10):
I think it is.
I think he's a man who knowsthat he has a television
audience, the entire cities ofMinneapolis and St Paul and the
state of Minnesota and thenation.
He realizes that Repeating thequestion can also give you a
chance to regather your thoughts, gives you a chance to repeat
it Now it's in your head againand now you can give a good,
coherent answer.
Molly McPherson (07:28):
Yeah, so I'm mixed on it because, on the one
hand, because he had to repeatthe question every time, I think
it made it difficult from anediting point of view.
They always had to edit thatpiece out.
But you're absolutely right, itdoes allow you time to gather
your thoughts.
But saying it over againactually helps you come up with
a good answer, because you'realready saying the first answer.
Greg Floyd (07:50):
I think he's consciously trying to help the
television audience not knowing.
Are they hearing the question?
Well, his answer makes sense ifyou don't hear the question.
So he's taking care of that too.
So he's accomplishing a coupleof things with that, I think.
Molly McPherson (08:02):
So 100%.
He was media trained.
Greg Floyd (08:04):
Absolutely yeah, and he was media trained Absolutely
.
Molly McPherson (08:05):
Yeah, and he did a great job.
Now the next one was theprincipal Now on your newscast.
Did you ever watch theprincipal at all?
Did you ever talk about theprincipal or use any of his
quotes?
Greg Floyd (08:15):
I was watching it live and yes, we did, because,
again, I mentioned it beforewhen he said it was older
children protecting youngerchildren.
That gives you such a visual inyour head.
There was a little boy, notobviously in the news conference
, but who was a soundbite of him, was used over and over, who
talked about how he dropped tothe ground and then his friend,
victor covered him up.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head.
My friend Victor like saved methough, because he laid on top
of me, but he got hit.
He's really brave and I hopehe's good in the hospital.
Greg Floyd (08:49):
And again that puts such a visual on your head, and
I mentioned you before and Ihaven't done it yet.
I want to find out who Victorwas and what became of Victor.
We know that all the otherchildren survived, but who is
Victor?
I haven't seen a story abouthim yet and I want to.
Molly McPherson (09:01):
Yeah, that is an incredibly touching story.
Now, speaking about thestudents and the kids.
One other spokesperson whowe've seen a lot in the press
Matt DeBoer.
He's a principal enunciation atCatholic school.
He went up again to the mic.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
We lost two angels today and please continue to
pray for those still receivingcare.
We can't change the past, butwe can do something about the
future.
There's an African proverb thatsays, when you pray, move your
feet.
So I beg you, I ask you toplease pray, but don't stop with
your words.
Let's make a difference andsupport this community, these
(09:40):
children, these families, theseteachers.
Never again can we let thishappen.
Molly McPherson (09:45):
Also noticing so far all the videos that we
watch.
No one had notes or note cards.
Greg Floyd (09:50):
Yeah, you're right Again.
It just happened and they'rereacting in real time to a real
tragedy.
Molly McPherson (09:56):
And different from a lot of press conferences
we see, where there's a lecternwhere people will have notes or
in some cases they might evenbring out a teleprompter.
Every person coming up wasstanding at one mic, looking out
at a sea of reporters and justchaos behind, and they're
speaking so clearly andcoherently and with just such
compassion.
Greg Floyd (10:15):
Yeah, you're right.
I think many of them knew thatthey had to be.
They were going to be a voicefor the families and for the
students, and the calm and theway they were all so gathered
and there may have been abriefing right before too the
facts as they had them wereprobably fresh on their minds.
But again, some people, likethe principal DeBoer, were not
just talking facts, they weretalking feelings and emotion,
(10:37):
and you don't need a note cardfor that.
Molly McPherson (10:39):
Ooh, that's good, you don't?
You're absolutely right.
You just mentioned, though,that they had a briefing
beforehand.
What do you think what happenedbefore this press conference?
First, from just the news pointof view, the reporter point of
view, how do people know to goto the press conference, how
they know to show up, and whichtype of reporter are you sending
to cover something like this?
Greg Floyd (11:00):
You're acting quickly, you're sending your
best reporter and I bet each TVstation who's there has several
reporters there and they're allcovering different angles.
Some may only focus on theprinciple, some may only focus
on the politics of it, some arealso going to just want to focus
on the nuts and bolts.
How many are deceased, how manyare injured?
What do we know about theshooter?
There's one reporter who's justdoing a nuts and bolts story.
(11:22):
There's a reporter who's doingreaction story Minnesota.
They were on wall to wall forhours.
They're doing a number ofdifferent angles to this story.
Molly McPherson (11:30):
They're doing a number of different angles to
this story so you need a numberof reporters.
You just mentioned wall to wall, so I was watching some of the
live coverage back east andyou're watching in New York.
I happen to be watching thefeed from the station where I
used to work, the CBS affiliateWCCO in Minneapolis.
So this wall to wall talk aboutbeing a news anchor, because
you've had to anchor wall towall, I assume 9-11, election
(11:51):
night.
What is it like to be an anchor, having to cover a story like
this from the studio?
Greg Floyd (11:57):
There's lots of difficulties to it.
You don't want to say anythingwrong.
I was watching WCCO also and Idid hear them say a number of
times they made a real point ofit, saying we're not going to
put stuff on television that wesee on the internet, we're going
to put stuff on television thatwe know to be true.
We are not in a race to befirst, we're in a race to be
right.
Those are the exact words Iheard their anchors say a number
(12:19):
of times and I admire that.
But they also changed anchors anumber of times.
I had it on my desk all daylong so they had anchors coming
in, probably on different shifts, but that was a common theme I
heard throughout the day.
We are going to really try togive you the correct information
, not what we just hearwilly-nilly.
That could send you in thewrong direction and could end up
being misinformation.
Molly McPherson (12:39):
And that is so important nowadays because so
much information comes fromonline.
But also, when it's a tragedylike this, it's in the community
, it's families.
It's even more heightenedwhat's happening because you
have kids and thatmisinformation and rumor control
is so important.
Greg Floyd (12:55):
Absolutely.
We knew fairly quickly that itwas two young children, the
eight and the 10-year-old, whowere killed, and we had good
numbers on the number of injuredchildren and adults, and I
think that was important.
We also knew right away thatthe shooter had died, that at
least people then knew thatthere wasn't a threat to their
community, an immediate threat.
There was no government outthere.
This was all importantinformation to let the community
(13:16):
know where things stood.
Molly McPherson (13:17):
Now let's move back to the press conference.
Let's talk about the principal.
So the first time he came outand you could see his
back-to-school uniform he'swearing khakis.
He had a pink shirt.
He was wearing like a lightgreen tie.
He looked like a great Catholicschool principal.
He even has the cross aroundhis neck.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
To any of our students and families and staff
watching right now.
I love you, you're so brave andI'm so sorry this happened to
us today.
Molly McPherson (13:45):
How do you think he did when he came up to
the mic?
Greg Floyd (13:47):
I thought he did pretty well.
He gave you a really goodpicture of what the church and
the school is like.
As I watched this, I keptgetting pictures painted in my
head because I thought that thespeakers, he and the mayor did a
good job of painting thatpicture and you could just tell
that this was a man who washeartbroken for his children.
Molly McPherson (14:05):
And he kept talking about his children.
I thought he was exceptional.
Now, all the people that we'vementioned so far typically are
in front of a microphone.
A mayor is going to be in frontof a microphone.
A police chief?
They're going to be trained.
They're all going to be trained.
But a principal is nottypically media trained.
I've actually trained aprincipal in the Twin Cities
(14:26):
area, but it was for a differenttopic, but they're used to
standing in front of a room andcapturing people.
Greg Floyd (14:33):
Right.
They may not be media trained,necessarily, but they're public
speaking trained.
They know how to get theirmessage across to parents and
students and, in essence, thatis who they were talking to.
They were talking to a nationfull of parents and students who
were watching this.
Molly McPherson (14:46):
Oh well, said I like that how you said a nation
of parents.
Yeah, because he put it down tohis audience.
He was like, speaking to theaudience.
He's typically speaking to youand I both mentioned that.
We watched the ArchbishopBernard Hebda press conference.
I had him speak here.
He's also done a lot of mediainterviews Again someone else
who's most likely been mediatrained, and priests, again, are
used to speaking in front ofcongregations.
(15:07):
They're used to being publicspeakers, but he did something
at his turn at the mic that youand I both noted.
Greg Floyd (15:12):
I would never want to correct a principle, but
Principal DeBoer said it wasn'tso clear where would be the
source of hope?
Molly McPherson (15:18):
And, brothers and sisters, we have to be men
and women of hope.
Greg Floyd (15:23):
He corrected the principle which I don't know.
It was a little bit of a nailson the blackboard moment for me,
whether he agrees with theprinciple said or not about hope
, that's what he was correcting.
He says I hate to correct aprinciple and then he talked
about his version of hope.
And everybody's flying by theseat of their pants here,
obviously, so I can't fault himtoo much, but I wish he hadn't
used that terminology.
Here's this principal who, it'samazing, he's not in tears and
(15:45):
capable of even speaking andhe's so eloquent.
And then to say I got tocorrect the principal on a
matter of opinion, not fact.
Again, everyone there is doingtheir best in an untenable
situation.
Molly McPherson (15:57):
I think what happened is, I think, the
principal.
He was memorizing a lot ofthings.
He was quoting scripture and aproverb, an African proverb.
I think he had so many thingsin his head.
I think he misspoke, I think,when he said there isn't hope.
I think he wanted to saythere's always hope, but he just
misspoke and he just kept going.
Do you think he?
Greg Floyd (16:13):
misspoke, it could be.
He said it was just so brieftoo, what he said.
I think he said something aboutthere's no hope in what
happened today, and maybe hejust meant in that in the moment
of when it happened therewasn't hope, but now there's
obviously hope coming out of itbecause the community is coming
together.
So, yes and no, I'm not sure hemisspoke it.
May just he may not have usedthe very best words to get
across what he was thinking inhis head.
Molly McPherson (16:34):
I think he was trying to tie it together and
you could see how he plotted outwhat he was going to say and
how he was going to do it and Ithought it was great, and, like
you, for Hebda to come up andcorrect him was such bad form.
Greg Floyd (16:43):
The archbishop could have said it in a such
different way.
He could have said theprincipal mentioned hope.
I want to make sure people knowthat we do have hope going
forward.
And then not saying the words,I am correcting the principal.
Molly McPherson (16:55):
Exactly To go out of his way during a live
feed to correct it.
Yeah, I thought that wasincredibly bad form.
The next one was Harper Moiskey.
She was this 10-year-old girlwho was killed.
Her parents, not surprising.
They did not speak at themicrophone at all, but they
issued a statement.
Do you remember reading thestatement from the family?
Greg Floyd (17:15):
Yes.
Molly McPherson (17:15):
Okay, some of the things they said.
Harper was a bright, joyful anddeeply loved 10-year-old whose
laughter, kindness and spirittouched everyone who knew her.
And this line as a family, weare shattered and words cannot
capture the depth of our pain.
That writing is so true, isn'tit?
Greg Floyd (17:29):
And Harper's light will always shine on.
Yes, again, it's nice to learna little bit more about the
young person and about herfamily.
Molly McPherson (17:36):
I was surprised to see a parent get up to a mic
and speak.
Greg Floyd (17:40):
I have no idea how he was able to do that.
And he was strong and hepainted again that nice picture
of his son Fletcher, and he'sgot the principal's arm around
him the whole time.
Molly McPherson (17:50):
What did you think of that, though?
Because at first, when I saw it, I watched it on the phone.
My first initial response wasare these two dads?
That was my first thing, and Ihad to watch it on my computer.
Once I got a closer look, Iwent oh, it's the principal,
standing behind him with his arm.
Greg Floyd (18:06):
He does look different there in this shot.
He does look different, butobviously he was there to try to
give strength to the father whogot through this incredibly
well and heartbreaking to watchit is, and we got to learn a
little bit more about Fletcher.
Molly McPherson (18:19):
And it again humanizes, not that even just
the thought of an eight-year-oldbeing dead doesn't strike you
as a human, but he humanized hisson and the tragedy even more.
It's so heartbreaking to watch.
And when he stood there.
So he's standing in front ofthe church and it is their press
conferences here we see now abank of mics are there.
So it's not a typical all-handsJIC Joint Information Command
(18:41):
Center type of a situation.
This is a press conference fromAnnunciation, with what they
had to say.
He wore a shirt, a blue shirtwith birds on it, and I had to
take a moment to look at it, andtypically you wouldn't wear a
shirt like that at a pressconference.
But it made me wonder was thatFletcher's favorite shirt even?
Greg Floyd (18:58):
maybe Could be or it could just be a dad thinking
I'm not going to worry aboutwhat I look like in front of the
cameras.
The thought may not have evencrossed his mind.
He's thinking about his son andhis family.
Molly McPherson (19:08):
Yeah, and the principal who's standing?
He's dressed differently, he'swearing a t-shirt.
Future filled with hope, thebranding of the school, which is
something I encourage withclients a lot, especially at
press conferences when there'svideo.
Because sometimes you don'tknow, and even in my case, when
I was looking at my phone Ididn't know who that was.
I didn't know it was aprincipal.
But now when you're watching iton camera, even if you don't
see his name tag, which manypeople can't read it, you can
(19:30):
put it together easily.
So, from an opt-in point ofview, I do think it helps Little
things like this.
At the moment they may not seemlike they matter its
information and what I see withthe principal.
Greg Floyd (19:43):
there is the man who's advocating again for his
school.
He's not thinking I'm onnational television and I need
to put on a nice shirt and anice jacket.
I'm putting on what?
The name of my school.
I'm working to help familiesand help students.
There's so much to be done atthat school to help the
survivors not even the otherstudents who are injured, but
all the other students whoweren't injured and the trauma
that they're going to face for along time.
That's your point.
Man right there who's going tobe the man on the front lines
(20:06):
helping all those other studentscope with this.
What they saw and what theyexperienced it's like wearing
the t-shirt is just like what wetalked about with the mayor.
He's just a guy who's rollingup his sleeves and wanting to
get to work and help it.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Molly McPherson (20:17):
So, overall, watching this coverage and you
watched far more than I did, asyou said, it was on all day I
think our country is soaccustomed to disasters and
tragedy it's almost expectedPeople will turn on the
television anytime and think, ok, what's happened today?
There was something about thispress conference, or all the
press conferences that I waswatching.
Maybe it's just because it's myhometown, but I thought it was
(20:38):
incredible.
It was no-transcript it on thescreens.
(21:13):
Certainly, we're not going tomake this political in any way,
but this is a hard watch.
But boy was it an easy listento these people, to these
spokespeople.
So that's why I just wanted totake a moment in this podcast to
highlight and choose oneepisode where we could really
highlight the amazing work, notonly from the media market and
the Twin Cities and KSTP, wcco,fox, kmsp and also KARE 11.
(21:38):
The work that they did therewas wall-to-wall coverage, but
also all the spokespeople thatdid just an incredible job there
.
So that's all for this week onthe podcast.
Thanks for listening.
Bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!