Pulling Back the Curtain on Public Transit PR
With Writer and Public Relations Specialist, Lisa Battiston
Lisa Battiston, Deputy Press Secretary at the MBTA, gives us an inside look at public relations for Boston’s transit system.
What first inspired you to pursue a career in communications and public relations?
The honest answer is a steady paycheck and healthcare. After earning an MFA from Emerson College in Creative Writing, I’d hoped to become a writer (still do!), but recognized I value things like, say, feeding myself, and form rejections from literary magazines are not accepted as currency at my local supermarket. So I searched for a career path that utilized creative writing in whatever capacity I could find it, seeking out communications roles in editing, social media, and so on.
I was lucky enough to land at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, also known locally as the T) in what was, at the time, the new position of Operations Information Officer (OIO), writing and editing service alerts for riders and spearheading the Authority’s use of Twitter—when riders tweeted at the T, it was me engaging with them in a friendly, informative way (and sometimes in haiku? 2011 was a weird year).
I was asked to join the MBTA’s press team a few years later, putting my writing chops to far more use as I drafted statements, briefings, talking points, and official press releases. It was an exciting transition. I went from thinking about the MBTA on a micro-level (what is this person tweeting to us about right now in this moment) to a macro-level (what are the MBTA’s overarching goals and programs and innovations and initiatives that the general public might want to hear more about).
Fourteen years after joining the T, I continue as the MBTA’s Deputy Press Secretary today, very proud that nearly the entirety of my adult career has been in public service, working alongside so many creative, passionate folks every day.
How did your studies in creative writing influence your approach to media relations?
A background in creative writing teaches you how to communicate strategically. You learn the importance of clarity, of word choice, how to communicate difficult ideas with ease. Creative writing workshops can also be a nail-biting experience (this feels like an understatement!), but you learn to accept critiques and criticism from your peers in a constructive way, and how to provide effective feedback on someone else’s work. Studying creative writing also provides a healthy appreciation for consistency and grammar, which I use all day, every day when drafting or editing written materials (I think about Kurt Vonnegut every time I edit-out a semicolon, about Stephen King when I advocate for the removal of adverbs, and I will champion the serial comma until my death).
As any English major will tell you too, studying creative writing involves a lot of reading—reading expands your world view, provides you with different and nuanced perspectives, strengthens your capacity for empathy. These are all things that help you become a better human, but also a better communicator, especially in the public sector.
Creative writing at its core is storytelling, and there is always a story to tell (especially at the T!). Some of my favorite moments in PR at the MBTA have been pitches highlighting the hard work of our front-line workforce, organizing interviews that spotlight creative solutions to longstanding problems, writing press releases on improvements the T is making in accessibility, reliability, modernization, and so much more.
Transparency should always be the core commitment to the public—and by extension, the press.
What’s the best way to balance transparency with protecting sensitive information in public relations?
Transparency should always be the core commitment to the public—and by extension, the press. At the T, we know that transparency and access is an expectation and responsibility that also wins public trust by demystifying our giant organization. In our press interactions, we demonstrate transparency in lots of ways, like building ongoing, respectful relationships with reporters, pushing for media to have access to our leadership and project managers, and producing meaningful, informative responses to media inquiries.
Safety-sensitivities definitely exist—from electrified third rail on our subways to massive transit vehicles to construction zones with heavy equipment, you name it, safety challenges run the gamut at the T—but we work with our press corps, our Operations leadership, and our Safety teams to find the best possible balance for reporters seeking access to our system.
With transparency already a core value, our leadership teams in Operations and Safety are fantastic partners in striking the right kind of balance. With their support and guidance, we’ve assisted reporters with being right-of-way certified at our in-house Training School so they can be safely escorted on to closed track areas, provided guided access to complicated signal rooms, escorted media through bus garages and rail yards, and so much more.
Transparency is something we’re all committed to at the T, and we couldn’t provide this kind of access to the press without the leadership of many of our internal teams and our General Manager.
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How do you handle criticism and negative feedback from the public or media?
I view negative feedback as an opportunity. The MBTA is such a large, historical (re: old!) organization with so many literal and figurative moving parts that unexpected issues will happen in spite of everyone’s best intentions—but it’s how we handle a bad news story or frustration from a rider. Listening matters—and taking action.
I encountered negative feedback from the public much more acutely as an OIO when I first joined the T, engaging with riders on Twitter. An unexpected subway delay or bus replacement or dirty vehicle, etc., is aggravating, and riders voice many, many, many of their frustrations on Twitter/X.
I took the frustrations in stride, often apologized to riders one by one via tweet, was happy to be behind the handle that riders could come to with their challenges, and looked for opportunity within the negative feedback—was a rider tweeting about being stuck on a Red Line car with a light issue? Have an official check the car. Did someone post a photo of a platform needing to be cleaned? Call the cleaners. It’s pretty cool how the OIO role has grown over time. Riders have become our eyes and ears on the ground, and the OIOs are now a team of people monitoring their feedback in real-time 24/7.
In my media relations role, you can often sense a negative story coming based on a reporter’s inquiry. If a reporter emails me a lengthy list of questions about the lack of stop announcements on certain trains and how this poses major accessibility challenges, the resulting story likely won’t be great—but through factual responses, I can include all of the ways we proactively combat the issue, all of the audits and maintenance and complaint resolutions.
A negative story can be balanced with facts about proactivity, which I think speak volumes more than values statements on their own. Accept the negative criticism, but use the opportunity to highlight improvements taking place to resolve the issue.
There is real, tangible joy in public service. When I talk about the importance of transparently communicating with the public, I’m talking about my friends and neighbors and the folks I see on the Green Line during my morning commute to the office.
What’s your advice for staying motivated and positive in a high-pressure or highly public role?
The most rewarding aspect of working in the public sector is that, in my small communications way, I’m having a direct impact on my community. There is real, tangible joy in public service. When I talk about the importance of transparently communicating with the public, I’m talking about my friends and neighbors and the folks I see on the Green Line during my morning commute to the office.
I’m also surrounded by colleagues who genuinely care about their role in greater Boston public transportation—their passion can be felt in every corner of the organization. The people I work for and with are truly a motivating force.
As for advice for staying positive: No news can be good news. Smoke does not always mean fire (sometimes it’s just a smoldering cable). Take your vacation time and, when you do, turn off your work phone—in fact, leave it at home. And read the comments with crocodile skin. They’re not personal, and if you studied creative writing, your workshops prepped you to accept critiques with grace and action (and the occasional mumbled expletive).
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About Lisa Battiston
Lisa Battiston is a Boston-based writer and communications specialist who has built her career in public service. She currently serves as Deputy Press Secretary at the MBTA, where she has spent nine years advancing transparent communications and agency initiatives. Previously, she was the MBTA’s first Operations Information Officer, managing social media for five years. Battiston also sits on the board of Writers, Inc., a Massachusetts nonprofit supporting writing and publishing opportunities for families facing hospitalization and illness. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) from Emerson College. Her work appears in Anthology of Campfire Stories from Hellbound Books, Boston Hassle and Allston Pudding, among other publications.