The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

What Was Said at the Mic: Press Conference Analysis After the Annunciation Catholic School Shooting

• Molly McPherson • Episode 327

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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

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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.

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Molly McPherson:

There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act that was Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry and this week's episode of the podcast. I just want to take a look at the events that happened in Minneapolis. This is going to be a different episode one because I have a co-host joining me longtime news anchor investigative reporter, greg Floyd. Greg, thank you for joining me this week on the podcast.

Greg Floyd:

Thank you for having me, Molly. I wish it was a happier podcast.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, this is not the best topic for you and I to jump in on a podcast together, but you're the one who alerted me to what had happened and I didn't even know that this happened in Minneapolis. Longtime listeners know I'm from the Twin Cities. I've talked about things that have happened in the area, certainly in 2020, with the killing of George Floyd and then, more recently in June, the killing of state representative Melissa Hortman, along with her husband, and the shooting of another state representative, john Hoffman I think his name is in his wife, yvette so there's a lot of things happening in Minneapolis.

Greg Floyd:

It's a lot for a community to bear when you really think about it.

Molly McPherson:

It is, and this one rattles you because it's children. It's so much. This is a hard topic, but the reason I thought to do the podcast episode about this in particular is because I've been watching the news reports. I've been watching the press conferences, you've been reporting on it, watching and reporting, and it's tough.

Greg Floyd:

Even as you and I were going over the clips again here right now, we get emotional. There is so much emotion involved because it is children involved. I hear that one line about older children protecting younger children. Think about what played out in that church?

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, okay. So even though this is a Minneapolis story, clearly this is a national story.

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, this is a human story.

Molly McPherson:

Oh, a human story. Oh, that's interesting how you say that. So we've watched these again, but you and I have not given each other's feedback on this at all. So let's look at it from an anchor point of view. And also, reporter, you put packages together, you've been to press conferences, you know what to look for. And then I want to give my thoughts from a PR, crisis management, media training perspective, and I don't think we're going to look at this in a highly critical way. I really want to look at all the important elements that are critical, just when a situation like this happens.

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, I would agree it's still raw. It really is so overall.

Molly McPherson:

There's Jacob Fry. He's standing there. You and I are looking at the press. So this is the morning that it happened. The visuals here this is an audio podcast, but many people, I'm sure, saw the clips. If you didn't watch it on television, you watched it on social media. Greg, from an optical point of view, like we're looking at the optics, you've been to press conferences before. You've had to put packages together from a press conference. What do you think? Looking at Jacob Fry right now standing at one mic and what's happening behind?

Greg Floyd:

I think he's still in a state of shock. He's still stunned. This is his community. He's acting in this news conference as an advocate for the families and for the children 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 goes toward what could be the cause of this, but he quickly gets away from that, I noticed, and just keeps going back to the children and the families in the community.

Molly McPherson:

What was the line? What was really like the best soundbite? If you will, that got grabbed. Did you notice it when you were reporting on it?

Greg Floyd:

I assume you're talking about thoughts and prayers and these children were praying and obviously you know that is a standard. That's the politics of it. Some people offer thoughts and prayers and other people say, well, that's not enough. I think that's what he's trying to say there, without getting too deep into the politics of it.

Molly McPherson:

Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers. Right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends. As a news anchor, as a reporter, when you hear a statement or read a statement about thoughts and prayers, what does it mean to you?

Greg Floyd:

It means they're trying to deflect from some of the causation.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, and he leveraged it into what I think is probably one of the best soundbites I have ever heard in a tragedy and he did it in a minimalist way.

Greg Floyd:

He didn't keep going back to it and pounding his fist about it. He said it once and he moved back to the families and once was enough.

Molly McPherson:

So the optics of this. So him standing there no jacket, he's in front of law enforcement. So just looking at this photo tell me about the optics on this and what you see.

Greg Floyd:

I don't want to get into the politics. I just bend over backwards to not be political. But it does look like he's a hands-on guy who's there and who's stunned by this because it's his city, it's his people.

Molly McPherson:

Now, just from a media training aspect. Let's say you're there, what do you think when the backdrop is just all police here? And then you see the police trucks and everything like where they set this up, and also one mic. There's no lectern. What happened to the days of all the mics here? Is this just one pool mic?

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, there's a moat box down there that all the mics are being plugged into. This shows the enormity of it all those police vehicles and all these people who are there. You've got senators and the governor. Actually, he was at a different one. I think it just shows the enormity of it and the fact that they want to try to give the community some answers and some reassurances as quickly as they can.

Molly McPherson:

Also just from an optics point of view. He's not wearing a jacket. He's not wearing a jacket, he's not wearing a tie. Just recently he's on the job, exactly, and I recently gave that advice to a client who was speaking, and that's exactly what we wanted to show. I said roll up the sleeves and take 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 to do. They're there to respond and they're there to also offer information, but really is to take control.

Greg Floyd:

Yes, and he's trying to show that. And again he's trying to show he's the advocate for his city, for his families, and he wants to make sure the right messages get out about the families.

Molly McPherson:

And would you say you were watching this from a journalist point of view. How do you think he did?

Greg Floyd:

I think it came across very well.

Molly McPherson:

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 they all had the last name, like O'Hara.

Greg Floyd:

This is like such a throwback, commissioner O'Hara, sure.

Molly McPherson:

So he's standing here. Same thing at the same mic, which I do think it makes it less chaotic, like that, which I do think it makes it less chaotic like that you don't see those mic flags anymore from all the stations.

Greg Floyd:

Right. Who's there, who's not there?

Molly McPherson:

Yes, you watch this from a chief point of view, from a police chief. How do you think he did?

Greg Floyd:

Very no-nonsense, very straightforward, trying to get at the facts he could and being honest. He was honest when asked a question he either gave the answer or said I don't know the answer.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, I like that when people can admit they don't know the answer.

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, this is an evolving situation, a developing situation and again, I mentioned the word raw before. It's all still so raw. He hasn't seen this before, I'm sure Two dead children and more than a dozen others hurt. Sure, he's a tough guy, police chief, but he's human and this has got to be hard for him standing right there.

Molly McPherson:

Now here's a question I have that took place here. This is when he repeats the question a lot.

Speaker 4:

How many children? I don't have an exact. The question was how many children at the school?

Molly McPherson:

OK, so do you hear how he repeated the question? The first time that I listened to it, we could hear it, because the question from the press, from the reporters, are picked up on the mic so everyone can hear the question. Then he repeated the question. I know he wants to make sure that everyone hears, but is that necessary?

Greg Floyd:

I think it is. I think he's a man who knows that he has a television audience, the entire cities of Minneapolis and St Paul and the state of Minnesota and the nation. He realizes that Repeating the question can also give you a chance to regather your thoughts, gives you a chance to repeat it Now it's in your head again and now you can give a good, coherent answer.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, so I'm mixed on it because, on the one hand, because he had to repeat the question every time, I think it made it difficult from an editing point of view. They always had to edit that piece out. But you're absolutely right, it does allow you time to gather your thoughts. But saying it over again actually helps you come up with a good answer, because you're already saying the first answer.

Greg Floyd:

I think he's consciously trying to help the television audience not knowing. Are they hearing the question? Well, his answer makes sense if you don't hear the question. So he's taking care of that too. So he's accomplishing a couple of things with that, I think.

Molly McPherson:

So 100%. He was media trained.

Greg Floyd:

Absolutely yeah, and he was media trained Absolutely.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, and he did a great job. Now the next one was the principal Now on your newscast. Did you ever watch the principal at all? Did you ever talk about the principal or use any of his quotes?

Greg Floyd:

I was watching it live and yes, we did, because, again, I mentioned it before when he said it was older children protecting younger children. That gives you such a visual in your head. There was a little boy, not obviously in the news conference, but who was a soundbite of him, was used over and over, who talked about how he dropped to the ground and then his friend, victor covered him up.

Speaker 3:

I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head. My friend Victor like saved me though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit. He's really brave and I hope he's good in the hospital.

Greg Floyd:

And again that puts such a visual on your head, and I mentioned you before and I haven't done it yet. I want to find out who Victor was and what became of Victor. We know that all the other children survived, but who is Victor? I haven't seen a story about him yet and I want to.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, that is an incredibly touching story. Now, speaking about the students and the kids. One other spokesperson who we've seen a lot in the press Matt DeBoer. He's a principal enunciation at Catholic school. He went up again to the mic.

Speaker 4:

We lost two angels today and please continue to pray for those still receiving care. We can't change the past, but we can do something about the future. There's an African proverb that says, when you pray, move your feet. So I beg you, I ask you to please pray, but don't stop with your words. Let's make a difference and support this community, these children, these families, these teachers. Never again can we let this happen.

Molly McPherson:

Also noticing so far all the videos that we watch. No one had notes or note cards.

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, you're right Again. It just happened and they're reacting in real time to a real tragedy.

Molly McPherson:

And different from a lot of press conferences we see, where there's a lectern where people will have notes or in some cases they might even bring out a teleprompter. Every person coming up was standing at one mic, looking out at a sea of reporters and just chaos behind, and they're speaking so clearly and coherently and with just such compassion.

Greg Floyd:

Yeah, you're right. I think many of them knew that they had to be. They were going to be a voice for the families and for the students, and the calm and the way they were all so gathered and there may have been a briefing right before too the facts as they had them were probably fresh on their minds. But again, some people, like the principal DeBoer, were not just talking facts, they were talking feelings and emotion, and you don't need a note card for that.

Molly McPherson:

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 happened before this press conference? First, from just the news point of view, the reporter point of view, how do people know to go to the press conference, how they know to show up, and which type of reporter are you sending to cover something like this?

Greg Floyd:

You're acting quickly, you're sending your best reporter and I bet each TV station who's there has several reporters there and they're all covering different angles. Some may only focus on the principle, some may only focus on the politics of it, some are also going to just want to focus on the nuts and bolts. How many are deceased, how many are injured? What do we know about the shooter? There's one reporter who's just doing a nuts and bolts story. There's a reporter who's doing reaction story Minnesota. They were on wall to wall for hours. They're doing a number of different angles to this story.

Molly McPherson:

They're doing a number of different angles to this story so you need a number of reporters. You just mentioned wall to wall, so I was watching some of the live coverage back east and you're watching in New York. I happen to be watching the feed from the station where I used to work, the CBS affiliate WCCO in Minneapolis. So this wall to wall talk about being a news anchor, because you've had to anchor wall to wall, I assume 9-11, election night. What is it like to be an anchor, having to cover a story like this from the studio?

Greg Floyd:

There's lots of difficulties to it. You don't want to say anything wrong. I was watching WCCO also and I did hear them say a number of times they made a real point of it, saying we're not going to put stuff on television that we see on the internet, we're going to put stuff on television that we know to be true. We are not in a race to be first, we're in a race to be right. Those are the exact words I heard their anchors say a number of times and I admire that. But they also changed anchors a number of times. I had it on my desk all day long 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 to give you the correct information, not what we just hear willy-nilly. That could send you in the wrong direction and could end up being misinformation.

Molly McPherson:

And that is so important nowadays because so much information comes from online. But also, when it's a tragedy like this, it's in the community, it's families. It's even more heightened what's happening because you have kids and that misinformation and rumor control is so important.

Greg Floyd:

Absolutely. We knew fairly quickly that it was two young children, the eight and the 10-year-old, who were killed, and we had good numbers on the number of injured children and adults, and I think that was important. We also knew right away that the shooter had died, that at least people then knew that there wasn't a threat to their community, an immediate threat. There was no government out there. This was all important information to let the community know where things stood.

Molly McPherson:

Now let's move back to the press conference. Let's talk about the principal. So the first time he came out and you could see his back-to-school uniform he's wearing khakis. He had a pink shirt. He was wearing like a light green tie. He looked like a great Catholic school principal. He even has the cross around his neck.

Speaker 4:

To any of our students and families and staff watching right now. I love you, you're so brave and I'm so sorry this happened to us today.

Molly McPherson:

How do you think he did when he came up to the mic?

Greg Floyd:

I thought he did pretty well. He gave you a really good picture of what the church and the school is like. As I watched this, I kept getting pictures painted in my head because I thought that the speakers, he and the mayor did a good job of painting that picture and you could just tell that this was a man who was heartbroken for his children.

Molly McPherson:

And he kept talking about his children. I thought he was exceptional. Now, all the people that we've mentioned so far typically are in front of a microphone. A mayor is going to be in front of a microphone. A police chief? They're going to be trained. They're all going to be trained. But a principal is not typically media trained. I've actually trained a principal in the Twin Cities area, but it was for a different topic, but they're used to standing in front of a room and capturing people.

Greg Floyd:

Right. They may not be media trained, necessarily, but they're public speaking trained. They know how to get their message across to parents and students and, in essence, that is who they were talking to. They were talking to a nation full of parents and students who were watching this.

Molly McPherson:

Oh well, said I like that how you said a nation of parents. Yeah, because he put it down to his audience. He was like, speaking to the audience. He's typically speaking to you and I both mentioned that. We watched the Archbishop Bernard Hebda press conference. I had him speak here. He's also done a lot of media interviews Again someone else who's most likely been media trained, and priests, again, are used to speaking in front of congregations. They're used to being public speakers, but he did something at his turn at the mic that you and I both noted.

Greg Floyd:

I would never want to correct a principle, but Principal DeBoer said it wasn't so clear where would be the source of hope?

Molly McPherson:

And, brothers and sisters, we have to be men and women of hope.

Greg Floyd:

He corrected the principle which I don't know. It was a little bit of a nails on the blackboard moment for me, whether he agrees with the principle said or not about hope, that's what he was correcting. He says I hate to correct a principle and then he talked about his version of hope. And everybody's flying by the seat of their pants here, obviously, so I can't fault him too much, but I wish he hadn't used that terminology. Here's this principal who, it's amazing, he's not in tears and capable of even speaking and he's so eloquent. And then to say I got to correct the principal on a matter of opinion, not fact. Again, everyone there is doing their best in an untenable situation.

Molly McPherson:

I think what happened is, I think, the principal. He was memorizing a lot of things. He was quoting scripture and a proverb, an African proverb. I think he had so many things in his head. I think he misspoke, I think, when he said there isn't hope. I think he wanted to say there's always hope, but he just misspoke and he just kept going. Do you think he?

Greg Floyd:

misspoke, it could be. He said it was just so brief too, what he said. I think he said something about there's no hope in what happened today, and maybe he just meant in that in the moment of when it happened there wasn't hope, but now there's obviously hope coming out of it because the community is coming together. So, yes and no, I'm not sure he misspoke it. May just he may not have used the very best words to get across what he was thinking in his head.

Molly McPherson:

I think he was trying to tie it together and you could see how he plotted out what he was going to say and how he was going to do it and I thought it was great, and, like you, for Hebda to come up and correct him was such bad form.

Greg Floyd:

The archbishop could have said it in a such different way. He could have said the principal mentioned hope. I want to make sure people know that we do have hope going forward. And then not saying the words, I am correcting the principal.

Molly McPherson:

Exactly To go out of his way during a live feed to correct it. Yeah, I thought that was incredibly bad form. The next one was Harper Moiskey. She was this 10-year-old girl who was killed. Her parents, not surprising. They did not speak at the microphone at all, but they issued a statement. Do you remember reading the statement from the family?

Greg Floyd:

Yes.

Molly McPherson:

Okay, some of the things they said. Harper was a bright, joyful and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness and spirit touched everyone who knew her. And this line as a family, we are shattered and words cannot capture the depth of our pain. That writing is so true, isn't it?

Greg Floyd:

And Harper's light will always shine on. Yes, again, it's nice to learn a little bit more about the young person and about her family.

Molly McPherson:

I was surprised to see a parent get up to a mic and speak.

Greg Floyd:

I have no idea how he was able to do that. And he was strong and he painted again that nice picture of his son Fletcher, and he's got the principal's arm around him the whole time.

Molly McPherson:

What did you think of that, though? Because at first, when I saw it, I watched it on the phone. My first initial response was are these two dads? That was my first thing, and I had to watch it on my computer. Once I got a closer look, I went oh, it's the principal, standing behind him with his arm.

Greg Floyd:

He does look different there in this shot. He does look different, but obviously he was there to try to give strength to the father who got through this incredibly well and heartbreaking to watch it is, and we got to learn a little bit more about Fletcher.

Molly McPherson:

And it again humanizes, not that even just the thought of an eight-year-old being dead doesn't strike you as a human, but he humanized his son and the tragedy even more. It's so heartbreaking to watch. And when he stood there. So he's standing in front of the church and it is their press conferences here we see now a bank of mics are there. So it's not a typical all-hands JIC Joint Information Command Center type of a situation. This is a press conference from Annunciation, with what they had to say. He wore a shirt, a blue shirt with birds on it, and I had to take a moment to look at it, and typically you wouldn't wear a shirt like that at a press conference. But it made me wonder was that Fletcher's favorite shirt even?

Greg Floyd:

maybe Could be or it could just be a dad thinking I'm not going to worry about what I look like in front of the cameras. The thought may not have even crossed his mind. He's thinking about his son and his family.

Molly McPherson:

Yeah, and the principal who's standing? He's dressed differently, he's wearing a t-shirt. Future filled with hope, the branding of the school, which is something I encourage with clients a lot, especially at press conferences when there's video. Because sometimes you don't know, and even in my case, when I was looking at my phone I didn't know who that was. I didn't know it was a principal. But now when you're watching it on camera, even if you don't see his name tag, which many people can't read it, you can put it together easily. So, from an opt-in point of view, I do think it helps Little things like this. At the moment they may not seem like they matter its information and what I see with the principal.

Greg Floyd:

there is the man who's advocating again for his school. He's not thinking I'm on national television and I need to put on a nice shirt and a nice jacket. I'm putting on what? The name of my school. I'm working to help families and help students. There's so much to be done at that school to help the survivors not even the other students who are injured, but all the other students who weren't injured and the trauma that they're going to face for a long time. That's your point. Man right there who's going to be the man on the front lines helping all those other students cope with this. What they saw and what they experienced it's like wearing the t-shirt is just like what we talked about with the mayor. He's just a guy who's rolling up his sleeves and wanting to get to work and help it. Absolutely, absolutely.

Molly McPherson:

So, overall, watching this coverage and you watched far more than I did, as you said, it was on all day I think our country is so accustomed to disasters and tragedy it's almost expected People will turn on the television anytime and think, ok, what's happened today? There was something about this press conference, or all the press conferences that I was watching. Maybe it's just because it's my hometown, but I thought it was incredible.

Molly McPherson:

It was no-transcript it on the screens. Certainly, we're not going to make this political in any way, but this is a hard watch. But boy was it an easy listen to these people, to these spokespeople. So that's why I just wanted to take a moment in this podcast to highlight and choose one episode where we could really highlight the amazing work, not only from the media market and the Twin Cities and KSTP, wcco, fox, kmsp and also KARE 11. The work that they did there was wall-to-wall coverage, but also all the spokespeople that did just an incredible job there. So that's all for this week on the podcast. Thanks for listening. Bye for now.

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