Communications Policy

1.  Purpose

This policy establishes requirements, guidelines, roles and responsibilities for communicating laboratory-related information or when using a Fermilab affiliation. [1]

2. Scope

This policy applies to all forms of communication, including but not limited to communication by Fermilab employees and users acting on behalf of the laboratory with:

The public, via mass media outlets and interactions with members of the media.

The public, via social media tools, technologies and platforms, including but not limited to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.

Members of local and regional communities.

Fermilab employees and users, meaning those non-employees with Fermilab user agreements.

The public, employees and users during times of crisis.

The public, employees and users in the context of political activity.

Colleagues and peers both internally at the Fermilab and externally at meetings and conferences.

3. Applicability

This policy applies to all Fermilab employees and users.

4. Effective Date

This policy went into effect on October 15, 2015. It was revised on July 11, 2019.

5. Goals of Policy

Fermilab’s goal is to carry out communication activities that:

Inform the public of Fermilab’s mission, activities and achievements

Provide transparent and understandable information to all of the laboratory’s stakeholders

Build a positive, supportive relationship focused on openness and trust with the laboratory’s local community and region

• Develop, maintain and make known the communication channels that are available to the public
• Provide employees and users with the information that they need to complete their work in an efficient, effective and safe manner
• Communicate and enhance employee and user knowledge of Fermilab’s mission, vision, priorities and policies
• Respect and adhere to Fermilab’s Statement of Community Standards
• Meet any applicable DOE guidelines and requirements and fulfill any requirements outlined in the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC contract with DOE

6. Policy

6.1  General

All employees and users are encouraged to proactively communicate with their colleagues, supervisors and members of the public. When carrying out all communication activities, all employees and users are expected to conduct themselves to the highest standards of integrity and follow all related FRA and Fermilab policies and procedures.

The following sections detail the specific guidelines and requirements for communication by Fermilab employees and users acting on behalf of the laboratory with:

Interactions with members of the media and communications to the public via general/ mass media outlets (6.2)

Publishing or announcing scientific results (6.3)

Social Media (6.4)

Website communications and governance for Fermilab’s web presence (6.5)

Community relations, including members of local and regional communities (6.6)

Internal communications focused on laboratory employees and users (6.7)

Crisis communications for employees, users and the public as appropriate (6.8)

Political activity by employees (6.9)

Professional, technical and personal communications by employees and users (6.10)

6.2 Media Relations and Communicating to the Public through General/ Mass Media

Fermilab’s policy is to be forthcoming, accurate and timely when communicating information to the public through the mass media. Mass media includes any publication or technology that distributes news or other information for a broad audience, including but not limited to: print and online newspapers, magazines, blogs and other types of publications; television, radio and video programs, including those hosted online; podcasts and other recordings; and social media platforms operated by a mass media company.

Office of Communication

The Office of Communication maintains the primary responsibility for communicating and coordinating with media outlets and is a resource for Fermilab employees and Fermilab users in their media interactions. The Office’s assistance with respect to media inquiries includes researching media outlets, preparing for interviews, arranging site visits for journalists, fact-checking and post-interview follow-up.

Fermilab Employees and Users

In general, the preferred approach and in many cases the required approach (as noted below) is to first consult with the Office of Communication before speaking with the media or before providing content to media outlets, as specified below.

The Office of Communication should be notified by contacting fermilab@fnal.gov, by calling 630-840-3351, or by visiting the office on the first floor of Wilson Hall.

Approvals and notifications required when speaking to media or providing content for the media

If you are a Fermilab employee or Fermilab user and you are contacted by the media in the context of your work at Fermilab or on a Fermilab experiment, you must notify the Office of Communication before speaking to the media. Additionally, if you are a Fermilab employee or user and your Fermilab affiliation will be used in any news report or story, you must notify the Office of Communication before speaking to the media.

Advance notice and approval by the Office of Communication is required before speaking with the media about:

Policies (FRA, Fermilab, DOE or any other lab or agency), politics, laboratory or government agreements, budgets/funding, legal matters or safety/security

Any Fermilab- or DOE-related emergency or crisis situation

Any Fermilab project that falls under DOE Order 413.3B

Any Fermilab-related scientific or technical topic you are not directly working on

Any topic not directly connected with your scientific or technical work at Fermilab, for media reports in which you will be identified as a Fermilab employee or user

Advance notification to the Office of Communication is required before any communication with the media about:

Your scientific work at Fermilab

Scientific results that have been published or approved by your collaboration for public release

If advance notification is not possible (for example if you are approached at a conference), you may speak with the media about your scientific work only, and it is required that you notify the Office of Communication shortly thereafter.

Notification to the Office of Communication is not required (but is preferred) if speaking to the media about:

Any topic that is not connected with your work at Fermilab or with a Fermilab experiment, for media reports in which you will not be identified as a Fermilab employee or user.

Please note that even in cases where prior notification is not required, it is preferred. When in doubt, contact the Office of Communication.

Media visits to Fermilab

All visits to Fermilab by members of the media (including journalists, reporters, bloggers, photographers and television crews) for any reason must be approved in advance by the Office of Communication.

Content provided to Mass Media, including articles and other materials intended for media websites or social media platforms.

Any written materials, images or videos that reference Fermilab, scientific work at Fermilab or on a Fermilab experiment, or use a Fermilab affiliation and are intended for mass media must be reviewed by the Office of Communication before being provided to the media/publication.  This would include articles and op-eds.  Materials should be submitted to fermilab@fnal.gov. This does not include scientific and technical articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals or scientific materials submitted to a scientific archive or repository such as the arXiv. 

Presentations given to broad audiences that cover certain non-science focused topics

Any presentation at a scientific conference or other event with a broad external audience (e.g. beyond Fermilab/DOE/collaboration) that intends to address the following areas should be reviewed in advance by the Office of Communication:  DOE or Federal policies, politics, laboratory or government agreements, future or projected budgets/funding, legal matters, safety/security, or potentially controversial topics. 

If there are questions about other topics, please also contact the Office of Communication for consultation prior to the conference or event via fermilab@fnal.gov or by calling 630-840-3351.

In addition, presentations should not endorse any company, product, or service without prior approval from the Office of Communication and Office of General Counsel.

Media relations during crisis or emergency situations

During a crisis or emergency situation, all inquiries from members of the media must be directed to the Office of Communication, without exception.  See Section 6.6 for additional details.

6.3 Publishing or Announcing Scientific Results

Fermilab employees should inform the Office of Communication of any planned publication or announcement of significant scientific results involving Fermilab-hosted experiments or Fermilab scientists, prior to the release of the publication or announcement of the significant results.  This advance notice is not intended as a review of the scientific paper or results, but rather to provide for appropriate publicity of those significant results at the time they are announced or publicized.

6.4 Social Media

Social media is an important piece of Fermilab’s communications, used to share the laboratory’s latest news, remain transparent, foster a love of science and physics, educate the public and join a global conversation. Social media platforms include (but are not limited to) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.

Social media conducted by individual employees:

Employees are encouraged to share appropriate Fermilab-related information via their personal social media channels. Employees should be aware that they are ambassadors for FRA, Fermilab and DOE when interacting online.

Employees should consider adding a personal disclaimer to their social media accounts if they identify as lab employees and discuss lab-related business, making it clear that individual employees speak for themselves and not on behalf of the lab. Example: Opinions are mine, not my employer’s.

It is expected that employees will conduct themselves with the highest standards of integrity and follow all related Fermilab policies and procedures when communicating via social media about the laboratory, its employees and its programs. Questions about proper laboratory-related conduct on social media can be directed to the Employee Relations manager (x4363).

Social media during crisis/emergency situations

Employees are not allowed to post any crisis- or emergency-related content (text, images or videos) to their personal social media accounts or to laboratory-owned social media accounts to which they have access, aside from sharing or retweeting official Fermilab or emergency services social media posts. If there is a question, please contact the Office of Communication at fermilab@fnal.gov, or by calling 630-840-3351.

Social media conducted by the Office of Communication on behalf of Fermilab

The Office of Communication is responsible for the content of Fermilab’s official social media channels.

Social media conducted by Fermilab organizations and units

Fermilab recognizes that its organizations and sub-units may benefit from establishing their own social media accounts. Account owners are required to notify the Office of Communication (x3351 or fermilab@fnal.gov) prior to establishing a laboratory-affiliated social media channel; the Office of Communication will provide guidance, subscribe to your channels and help to amplify your messages as appropriate. New accounts will need to provide a clear benefit for the organization that existing methods cannot fulfill, and the organization must have an effective strategy to maintain the channel.

Social media and reporters

Requests from reporters received through social media channels must be handled according to the guidelines in Section 6.2 Media relations, including promptly notifying the Office of Communication at x3351 or fermilab@fnal.gov of all such requests.

Social media, security, and privacy

Employees on social media should be security conscious and understand their online privacy settings, including how much of their personal information is available. Protect confidential laboratory-related information and respect other employees and their privacy when interacting online.

6.5 Website Communications and Web Governance

Fermilab’s Web Governance policy is located at the Fermilab policies page, at http://directorate-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=31. That policy establishes roles and responsibilities for governance of web accessible content within the Fermilab web presence, and the minimum requirements that website owners must meet in order to make content accessible via the Fermilab web presence.  This policy covers all web accessible information in the fnal.gov domain and/or hosted on servers within the Fermilab network.  For questions regarding web governance or this policy please contact the Office of Communication at x3351 or fermilab@fnal.gov.

6.6 Community Relations

All employees are encouraged to effectively communicate appropriate information about the laboratory to their friends, neighbors and communities, within the guidelines set forth in this and other Fermilab policies.

The Office of Education and Public Outreach, working with the Office of Communication, maintains the primary responsibility for community relations, including a suite of activities to keep members of the laboratory’s local and regional communities informed and solicit citizen feedback and input.

All comments or complaints from the public or other stakeholders that raise issues that reflect on Fermilab’s reputation should be forwarded to the Office of Communication with information on the nature of the comment or complaint and, if available, any contact information. These will be handled as per Office of Communication processes, which may involve the Office of Education and Public Outreach if appropriate.

Questions or requests for assistance regarding community relations may be addressed to the Office of Communication at x3351 or fermilab@fnal.gov.

6.7 Internal Communication

All employees are expected to effectively and respectfully communicate with their co-workers, to share appropriate information and to contribute to discussions at meetings and via other information exchanges.

The Office of Communication has the primary responsibility for disseminating relevant laboratory-related information for employees and users via the most appropriate channels. It is the responsibility of all employees and users to read and understand the information and, if necessary, act in a timely manner.

All posters that employees or users may wish to display in a common area at Fermilab to advertise an event, group, or activity must first be approved by the Office of Communication.  Requests should be sent to Deb Sebastian at debseb@fnal.gov or call x3351.

6.8 Crisis Communication

Fermilab’s policy is to make accurate information available as soon as possible during potentially life- and operations-threatening situations.

The Office of Communication has the primary responsibility for communicating crisis-related information to members of the public, including news media. All inquiries from members of the media must be directed to the Office of Communication during a crisis or emergency situation.

Employees are not allowed to post any crisis- or emergency-related content (text, images or videos) to their personal or laboratory-owned social media accounts, aside from sharing or retweeting official Fermilab or emergency services posts.   If you have questions, please contact Deb Sebastian at debseb@fnal.gov or call x3351.

Depending on the type of crisis or emergency situation, employees on site will be informed of the situation and actions to take via the emergency messaging system and/or the sitewide emergency warning system. Employees who are off site will be notified via the emergency messaging system.

It is the responsibility of all on-site employees and users to maintain up-to-date emergency messaging contact information (https://member.everbridge.net/index/453003085611188#/login) and up-to-date contact information in FermiWorks.

6.9 Political Activities

Fermilab employees and users who engage in political activities must not use their Fermilab affiliation as a credential, present themselves as representatives of FRA or the laboratory, or use laboratory property while participating in the activities. Examples of prohibited activities include but are not limited to signing a campaign letter with one’s Fermilab affiliation and sending a lobbying letter to a member of Congress on Fermilab letterhead, from a Fermilab email account or from a Fermilab computer.

All visits to the Fermilab site by elected officials or political candidates are subject to DOE regulations and must be coordinated in advance through the Office of the Director, which will work with the relevant Fermilab offices.

The Interactions with Government Officials policy details the guidelines and requirements for interactions with – and visits to the Fermilab site by – government officials, including elected officials.

6.10 Professional, Technical, and Personal Communications

Fermilab employees and users are expected to conduct themselves with the highest level of professional integrity and to follow all related Fermilab policies and procedures when communicating with colleagues and peers, both at the laboratory and in external venues such as conferences. Employees are expected to adhere to the Fermilab Statement of Community Standards.

In addition to following laboratory-wide policies (including the export control policy covering data, technology and information that may not be shared with all groups outside the laboratory) and respecting proprietary information and copyrights, employees and users should follow any processes, procedures and/or guidelines established by their managers and supervisors regarding work-related professional and technical communication.

Employees or users who are members of scientific collaborations must also follow those organizations’ rules and bylaws regarding public discussion of scientific results and other code of conduct policies.

Fermilab listservs and email groups are not to be used for personal communications.

7.  Responsibilities

While this policy applies to all Fermilab employees and users, there are additional responsibilities for the following individuals and groups:

7.1 Head, Office of Communication

The Head of the Office of Communication is responsible and accountable for all laboratory-related communication activities, overall reputational management and for developing and carrying out an overall strategic plan for lab communications.

7.2 Head, Office of Education and Public Outreach

The Head of the Office of Education and Public Outreach is responsible and accountable for community relations, working with the Office of Communication.

7.3 Fermilab Directorate, Chiefs, Division/Section Heads

The leadership team is committed to a coordinated and consistent approach to communicating laboratory messages, both internally and externally. This commitment requires including Office of Communication staff in the planning processes of the laboratory, divisions and sections, as well as in ongoing operational activities. Leadership also ensures that communication activities and costs are integrated into the laboratory’s overall planning and budgeting processes.

7.4 Managers and Supervisors

Managers and supervisors are expected to regularly and effectively communicate laboratory-related information to their departments, as well as to maintain open and inviting channels for staff to communicate with them.

7.5 Employees and Users

Employees and Users are expected to regularly and effectively communicate with their co-workers and supervisors, consistent with the Fermilab Statement of Community Standards, and to actively inform themselves of lab-related news and information.

8.  Additional Relevant Policies

The Interactions with Government Officials policy details the guidelines and requirements for interactions with--and visits to the Fermilab site by--governmental officials, including elected officials.

The Export Control Policy includes guidelines for communications that include data, technology or information that may not be shared with all groups outside the laboratory. 

The Policy on Photography of Technical Systems addresses photography and videography of technology on site at Fermilab.

The Graphic Standards at Fermilab document explains the proper use of the Fermilab logo and provide templates for clear and consistent communication, including:

Any person or group wishing to use the Fermilab logo in conjunction with an external meeting or conference, including but not limited to any website connected with an external meeting or conference, must contact Creative Services (630-840-3349, creativeservices@fnal.gov) to request approval.

The logo shall not be used in any manner that falsely implies employment at, or affiliation with, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, where this employment or affiliation does not exist.

The Fermilab logo may not be used for commercial purposes, including but not limited to endorsement of products or services.

9.  Authorities

FRA Contract (DE-AC02-07CH11359)

Section C

Clauses C.3.1.3 (LABORATORY STEWARDSHIP)

Section I

Clauses I.72 (PUBLIC AFFAIRS), I.103 (COMMUNITY COMMITMENT)

10.  Owner

The Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer, working with the Head of the Office of Communication and the Head of the Office of Education and Public Outreach, is responsible for reviewing and updating this policy.

11.  Review cycle

This policy is to be reviewed every two years after issuance.

12. Revision history