What was the most difficult situation you have been in when responding to media and public inquiries. what made it difficult? how did you handle it?

I find the hardest situation is when you have to trust a member of the media enough to go "off the record" with them. This means they cannot use what you tell them except for their own edification. This is best done when you really don't have anything to tell them and you can be completely honest. For example: "Can I tell you something off the record?" If they agree, you might say: "We really don't have any idea how this happened yet. We have just begun our own investigation. We are more interested than anyone in getting to the bottom of this and when we are sure we know exactly what happened we will share that information with you. Until then it doesn't benefit anyone to pass along rumors and speculation."

It's honest, it's sincere, and it gives away nothing.