Office of Public Affairs | Homeland Security
Source: https://www.dhs.gov/office-public-affairs
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:16
Office of Public Affairs | Homeland Security
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Breadcrumb
Home
About DHS
Organization
Office of the Secretary
Public Affairs
Operational and Support Components
Office of the Secretary
Center for Countering Human Trafficking
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Committee Management Office
Executive Secretary
Family Reunification Task Force
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
General Counsel
Joint Requirements Council
Legislative Affairs
Military Advisor
Office for State and Local Law Enforcement
Office of Strategy, Policy, & Plans
Partnership and Engagement
Privacy Office
Public Affairs
Entertainment Industry Contacts
For Writers: Story Arcs
For Writers: What DHS Does
Advisory Panels & Committees
Organizational Chart
Office of Public Affairs
Image
The Office of Public Affairs coordinates the public affairs activities of all of the Department’s components and offices, and serves as the federal government’s lead public information office during a national emergency or disaster.
To do this, the Office of Public Affairs...
Communicates
the Department’s operational and policy successes to the American people;
Provides strategic counsel
to senior leadership using best practices for communicating public information;
Educates and empowers Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies
, including natural disasters and terrorist or domestic violence attacks;
Strengthens incident communications
for the Federal Government to ensure that information related to domestic incidents is gathered and provided to the public;
Fosters employee communications
and build commitment to the Department’s mission among all employees;
Provides governance, policy direction and management oversight
of the agency’s enterprise
public websites
,
digital services
, and
social media
accounts;
Manages the daily operations of DHS.gov
to provide a consolidated resource for priority topics in a unified voice;
Regularly provides current/updated subject matter expertise and communication materials
to key stakeholders and non-government partners necessary in supporting DHS’ mission objectives;
Creates, produces and disseminates high quality video productions
to clearly communicate messages to an intended audience; and
Provides access to DHS
and its Component agencies to
studios/networks/productions
.
Quick Links
Press Room
Media Library
Social Media Accounts
Websites
Contacts
Press (Email - Preferred)
Press (Phone)
Entertainment Industry
Organization
Led by Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Tricia McLaughlin
, the DHS Office of Public Affairs is comprised of the following:
Image
The Press Office...
Coordinates all media relations
for the Department, identifies and executes proactive media opportunities, defends the agency in the news media leading all rapid response, and
serves as liaisons
to component
press offices
to ensure
message coordination
and
effective communication
;
Provides support to the Secretary
and other senior leadership on travel, and
coordinates with counterparts
at the White House, in other offices, and liaisons with external entity staff on public engagements; and
Manages a fluid series of daily media cycles
with national media outlets, cable television news, local press, international media, online outlets, specialized media across sectors and industries, and community media.
Press Room
Press (Email - Preferred)
Press (Phone)
Image
Strategic Communications...
Works closely with all DHS component agencies and headquarters offices to conduct
mid to long range strategic communications planning
and
strengthen coordination
with other federal departments and agencies;
Identifies opportunities to help the public better understand the Department’s mission
, programs, and policies and works to communicate key messages to targeted audiences;
Leads rollout strategies
for department-wide initiatives, events and announcements, and coordinates and supports individual component rollouts; and
Establishes a meaningful dialogue
on issues of importance with key groups and stakeholders.
Internal Communications
Image
Internal Communications...
Develops and distributes Secretary/Deputy Secretary messages
and general employee announcements to the workforce;
Manages the internal DHS Connect
homepage and newsroom;
Collaborates with component internal communicators
to amplify interdepartmental initiatives;
Produces feature profiles
that align with leadership priorities and federally-assigned special emphasis months; and
Produces and distributes the weekly “This Week at DHS” e-newsletter
to all 250,000 employees.
Social Media
Image
The Social Media team...
Is responsible for strategy, content creation, and management
of DHS headquarters and Secretary/Deputy Secretary
social media accounts
, including X, Truth Social, Facebook, and Instagram;
Coordinates, communicates, and advises component social media leads
on broader campaigns and agency priorities;
Tracks and analyzes agency trends and stats
across various public social media platforms to inform the broader communications strategy and DHS response to incidents; and
Drafts time-sensitive messaging
to rapidly respond to incidents.
Social Media Accounts
Speakers' Bureau
Image
The Speakers' Bureau...
Tracks and reviews requests
for DHS HQ employees to speak at
external events and engagements
;
Liaises with HQ offices and the component Speakers’ Bureau offices to
identify speaking opportunities
and to
ensure coordination
when multiple speakers across the Department are requested;
Reviews presentation materials and talking points prior to select events to
ensure consistent messaging
across the Department and that
no non-public information is revealed
; and
Works with the Office of the General Counsel/Ethics Division to
ensure all requests for speakers comply with federal law and regulations
.
Speech Writing
Image
The speechwriters...
Prepare speeches, talking points, editorials, Congressional testimony, video scripts, web content,
and
other written products
for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary;
Develop speech content, circulate draft remarks, incorporate feedback
from the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and senior staff, and
submit final, approved remarks
to the Executive Secretary's Office for inclusion in briefing books; and
During emergencies and exercises,
support incident communications
by staffing the National Joint Information Center and preparing the Secretary's initial one hour statement, and subsequent addresses to the nation.
Image
Incident & Crisis Communications...
Serves as the lead federal agency for communications during major domestic incidents and disasters
and coordinates all incident response activities (including national level exercises), as required by
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5
(HSPD 5), which directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to keep the public informed during a national incident;
Operates the National Joint Information Center
and continuously maintains the National, State and Private Sector Incident Communications Conference Lines;
Directs the External Affairs
Emergency Support Function (ESF #15)
of the
National Response Framework
;
Leads OPA’s work on the
National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)
; and
Develops and maintains
Federal incident communications doctrines and plans
.
Image
Multimedia Relations...
Engages with the entertainment industry
to provide story ideas and access to DHS for documentary and fictional TV and feature film, reaching audiences with “infotainment” that educates millions of viewers about DHS;
Reviews and approves all television/film footage and scripts
to ensure DHS is portrayed accurately, in context, and in a positive light to best educate the American viewing audience about the DHS mission and what we do; and
Coordinates with DHS components and directorates to
actively engage in productions
to showcase how each Component interacts with others to achieve the DHS mission.
Homeland Security Story Arcs
In the
Significant Cases archive
you'll find retellings of major events in recent U.S. history that DHS has been involved with. Told in a narrative manner, these pieces can serve as a guide for writers interested in the process by which the Department detects, responds to, investigates, and recovers from major high-profile cases such as terrorist attacks, catastrophic storms, organized drug cartels, and more.
How the Department Mobilizes for Action
Already know what type of story you're interested in telling? The
What DHS Does tool
highlights which of the Department's component agencies and offices take leading roles in certain plot scenarios.
Branding
Image
The Branding Office...
Oversees the DHS brand
, ensuring all Components, Directorates and Programs have a consistent look/tone/feel tied to the DHS seal and brand; and
Works with Office of General Counsel Intellectual Property division to secure trademarks for our logos and marks
(so we do not infringe on existing trademarks and other visual identifies).
Image
The Multimedia Services Division...
Manages all multimedia support services
within the Hitchcock Hall Auditorium, Multimedia Recording Studio, and Center Building Broadcast TV Studio;
Delivers multimedia products for DHS communications
for broadcast,
webcast/livestream
, and social media;
Hosts and/or records live interviews, press briefings,
and
video/audio recording
for DHS senior leadership; and
Provides consultation to other DHS components
for activities and events that involve multimedia components, media training, virtual events, or other visual information products.
Image
The photographers...
Serve as the official photographers
for the Secretary of Homeland Security;
Photograph official events, meetings, ceremonies, press conferences,
and
public appearances
to create a visual historical record of significant events;
Provide high-quality images
for DHS press releases, social media, websites, and public outreach;
Take official portraits of DHS leadership
and employees (as requested);
Organize, label, and store imagery
for government archives, ensuring they are accessible for future use; and
Work within strict guidelines
regarding confidentiality, security clearances, and event protocols.
Media Library
Image
The Web Communications Division...
Provides overall strategy, structure, organization, and presentation of
DHS websites and digital services
(especially DHS.gov) and overall guidance and oversight for all public websites/digital services;
Delivers counsel on
strategic web communications
across the Department;
Works with subject matter experts to
provide accurate, timely and relevant information and services
to web/digital visitors;
Works with Incident Communications to post
National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) bulletins
and
alerts
to DHS.gov;
Works with the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer to
develop new functionality
for DHS.gov, the Enterprise Photo/Video Library, and other DHS public websites/digital services;
Evaluates and coordinates the approval of
Third-Party Digital Services
(including social media platforms) for DHS use; and
Leads the DHS Public Web Council
and
represents DHS
to the larger federal digital workforce and
OMB’s Federal Digital Experience Council
.
Websites
DHS Web Council
The Director of Web Communications coordinates editorial standards, workflows, roles, processes, and requirements for all DHS websites and digital services with input from the Department's web/digital governance bodies. The director also serves as chair of the DHS Web Council, which is made up of one public affairs (PA) representative and one technology (IT) representative from each of the operational DHS components.
The purpose and goals of the DHS Web Council are to:
Unify and simplify web systems at DHS by consolidating component sites, integrating stove-piped programmatic sites and eliminating duplicative sites;
Identify and promote best practices for effective, customer-focused web and application development throughout the Department;
Identify and research new technology and propose pilot tests to evaluate their possible adoption by the department;
Provide a forum for web/digital technologists to share skills, knowledge, best practices, ideas and solutions;
Provide DHS leadership with an accurate accounting of the scope of all component public-facing websites/digital services and the technology and resources supporting them, along with financial and operational transparencies, including usage metrics;
Provide DHS a cross-component forum to address high-level web/digital policy issues that affect all DHS components;
Promote cross-agency collaboration through information and resource sharing; and
Communicate our successes and challenges to stakeholders, to bring greater recognition and support for our work and the DHS web/digital community as a whole.
Keywords
Leadership
News
Point of Contact (POC)
Last Updated:
08/29/2025
Back to Top
Skip to main content
Official websites use .gov
A
.gov
website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock
(
)
or
https://
means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Countdown to America's 250th Anniversary!
162
Days
5
Hours
47
Minutes
notice
Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed. Click here for more information.
Breadcrumb
Home
About DHS
Organization
Office of the Secretary
Public Affairs
Operational and Support Components
Office of the Secretary
Center for Countering Human Trafficking
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Committee Management Office
Executive Secretary
Family Reunification Task Force
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
General Counsel
Joint Requirements Council
Legislative Affairs
Military Advisor
Office for State and Local Law Enforcement
Office of Strategy, Policy, & Plans
Partnership and Engagement
Privacy Office
Public Affairs
Entertainment Industry Contacts
For Writers: Story Arcs
For Writers: What DHS Does
Advisory Panels & Committees
Organizational Chart
Office of Public Affairs
Image
The Office of Public Affairs coordinates the public affairs activities of all of the Department’s components and offices, and serves as the federal government’s lead public information office during a national emergency or disaster.
To do this, the Office of Public Affairs...
Communicates
the Department’s operational and policy successes to the American people;
Provides strategic counsel
to senior leadership using best practices for communicating public information;
Educates and empowers Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies
, including natural disasters and terrorist or domestic violence attacks;
Strengthens incident communications
for the Federal Government to ensure that information related to domestic incidents is gathered and provided to the public;
Fosters employee communications
and build commitment to the Department’s mission among all employees;
Provides governance, policy direction and management oversight
of the agency’s enterprise
public websites
,
digital services
, and
social media
accounts;
Manages the daily operations of DHS.gov
to provide a consolidated resource for priority topics in a unified voice;
Regularly provides current/updated subject matter expertise and communication materials
to key stakeholders and non-government partners necessary in supporting DHS’ mission objectives;
Creates, produces and disseminates high quality video productions
to clearly communicate messages to an intended audience; and
Provides access to DHS
and its Component agencies to
studios/networks/productions
.
Quick Links
Press Room
Media Library
Social Media Accounts
Websites
Contacts
Press (Email - Preferred)
Press (Phone)
Entertainment Industry
Organization
Led by Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Tricia McLaughlin
, the DHS Office of Public Affairs is comprised of the following:
Image
The Press Office...
Coordinates all media relations
for the Department, identifies and executes proactive media opportunities, defends the agency in the news media leading all rapid response, and
serves as liaisons
to component
press offices
to ensure
message coordination
and
effective communication
;
Provides support to the Secretary
and other senior leadership on travel, and
coordinates with counterparts
at the White House, in other offices, and liaisons with external entity staff on public engagements; and
Manages a fluid series of daily media cycles
with national media outlets, cable television news, local press, international media, online outlets, specialized media across sectors and industries, and community media.
Press Room
Press (Email - Preferred)
Press (Phone)
Image
Strategic Communications...
Works closely with all DHS component agencies and headquarters offices to conduct
mid to long range strategic communications planning
and
strengthen coordination
with other federal departments and agencies;
Identifies opportunities to help the public better understand the Department’s mission
, programs, and policies and works to communicate key messages to targeted audiences;
Leads rollout strategies
for department-wide initiatives, events and announcements, and coordinates and supports individual component rollouts; and
Establishes a meaningful dialogue
on issues of importance with key groups and stakeholders.
Internal Communications
Image
Internal Communications...
Develops and distributes Secretary/Deputy Secretary messages
and general employee announcements to the workforce;
Manages the internal DHS Connect
homepage and newsroom;
Collaborates with component internal communicators
to amplify interdepartmental initiatives;
Produces feature profiles
that align with leadership priorities and federally-assigned special emphasis months; and
Produces and distributes the weekly “This Week at DHS” e-newsletter
to all 250,000 employees.
Social Media
Image
The Social Media team...
Is responsible for strategy, content creation, and management
of DHS headquarters and Secretary/Deputy Secretary
social media accounts
, including X, Truth Social, Facebook, and Instagram;
Coordinates, communicates, and advises component social media leads
on broader campaigns and agency priorities;
Tracks and analyzes agency trends and stats
across various public social media platforms to inform the broader communications strategy and DHS response to incidents; and
Drafts time-sensitive messaging
to rapidly respond to incidents.
Social Media Accounts
Speakers' Bureau
Image
The Speakers' Bureau...
Tracks and reviews requests
for DHS HQ employees to speak at
external events and engagements
;
Liaises with HQ offices and the component Speakers’ Bureau offices to
identify speaking opportunities
and to
ensure coordination
when multiple speakers across the Department are requested;
Reviews presentation materials and talking points prior to select events to
ensure consistent messaging
across the Department and that
no non-public information is revealed
; and
Works with the Office of the General Counsel/Ethics Division to
ensure all requests for speakers comply with federal law and regulations
.
Speech Writing
Image
The speechwriters...
Prepare speeches, talking points, editorials, Congressional testimony, video scripts, web content,
and
other written products
for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary;
Develop speech content, circulate draft remarks, incorporate feedback
from the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and senior staff, and
submit final, approved remarks
to the Executive Secretary's Office for inclusion in briefing books; and
During emergencies and exercises,
support incident communications
by staffing the National Joint Information Center and preparing the Secretary's initial one hour statement, and subsequent addresses to the nation.
Image
Incident & Crisis Communications...
Serves as the lead federal agency for communications during major domestic incidents and disasters
and coordinates all incident response activities (including national level exercises), as required by
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5
(HSPD 5), which directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to keep the public informed during a national incident;
Operates the National Joint Information Center
and continuously maintains the National, State and Private Sector Incident Communications Conference Lines;
Directs the External Affairs
Emergency Support Function (ESF #15)
of the
National Response Framework
;
Leads OPA’s work on the
National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)
; and
Develops and maintains
Federal incident communications doctrines and plans
.
Image
Multimedia Relations...
Engages with the entertainment industry
to provide story ideas and access to DHS for documentary and fictional TV and feature film, reaching audiences with “infotainment” that educates millions of viewers about DHS;
Reviews and approves all television/film footage and scripts
to ensure DHS is portrayed accurately, in context, and in a positive light to best educate the American viewing audience about the DHS mission and what we do; and
Coordinates with DHS components and directorates to
actively engage in productions
to showcase how each Component interacts with others to achieve the DHS mission.
Homeland Security Story Arcs
In the
Significant Cases archive
you'll find retellings of major events in recent U.S. history that DHS has been involved with. Told in a narrative manner, these pieces can serve as a guide for writers interested in the process by which the Department detects, responds to, investigates, and recovers from major high-profile cases such as terrorist attacks, catastrophic storms, organized drug cartels, and more.
How the Department Mobilizes for Action
Already know what type of story you're interested in telling? The
What DHS Does tool
highlights which of the Department's component agencies and offices take leading roles in certain plot scenarios.
Branding
Image
The Branding Office...
Oversees the DHS brand
, ensuring all Components, Directorates and Programs have a consistent look/tone/feel tied to the DHS seal and brand; and
Works with Office of General Counsel Intellectual Property division to secure trademarks for our logos and marks
(so we do not infringe on existing trademarks and other visual identifies).
Image
The Multimedia Services Division...
Manages all multimedia support services
within the Hitchcock Hall Auditorium, Multimedia Recording Studio, and Center Building Broadcast TV Studio;
Delivers multimedia products for DHS communications
for broadcast,
webcast/livestream
, and social media;
Hosts and/or records live interviews, press briefings,
and
video/audio recording
for DHS senior leadership; and
Provides consultation to other DHS components
for activities and events that involve multimedia components, media training, virtual events, or other visual information products.
Image
The photographers...
Serve as the official photographers
for the Secretary of Homeland Security;
Photograph official events, meetings, ceremonies, press conferences,
and
public appearances
to create a visual historical record of significant events;
Provide high-quality images
for DHS press releases, social media, websites, and public outreach;
Take official portraits of DHS leadership
and employees (as requested);
Organize, label, and store imagery
for government archives, ensuring they are accessible for future use; and
Work within strict guidelines
regarding confidentiality, security clearances, and event protocols.
Media Library
Image
The Web Communications Division...
Provides overall strategy, structure, organization, and presentation of
DHS websites and digital services
(especially DHS.gov) and overall guidance and oversight for all public websites/digital services;
Delivers counsel on
strategic web communications
across the Department;
Works with subject matter experts to
provide accurate, timely and relevant information and services
to web/digital visitors;
Works with Incident Communications to post
National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) bulletins
and
alerts
to DHS.gov;
Works with the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer to
develop new functionality
for DHS.gov, the Enterprise Photo/Video Library, and other DHS public websites/digital services;
Evaluates and coordinates the approval of
Third-Party Digital Services
(including social media platforms) for DHS use; and
Leads the DHS Public Web Council
and
represents DHS
to the larger federal digital workforce and
OMB’s Federal Digital Experience Council
.
Websites
DHS Web Council
The Director of Web Communications coordinates editorial standards, workflows, roles, processes, and requirements for all DHS websites and digital services with input from the Department's web/digital governance bodies. The director also serves as chair of the DHS Web Council, which is made up of one public affairs (PA) representative and one technology (IT) representative from each of the operational DHS components.
The purpose and goals of the DHS Web Council are to:
Unify and simplify web systems at DHS by consolidating component sites, integrating stove-piped programmatic sites and eliminating duplicative sites;
Identify and promote best practices for effective, customer-focused web and application development throughout the Department;
Identify and research new technology and propose pilot tests to evaluate their possible adoption by the department;
Provide a forum for web/digital technologists to share skills, knowledge, best practices, ideas and solutions;
Provide DHS leadership with an accurate accounting of the scope of all component public-facing websites/digital services and the technology and resources supporting them, along with financial and operational transparencies, including usage metrics;
Provide DHS a cross-component forum to address high-level web/digital policy issues that affect all DHS components;
Promote cross-agency collaboration through information and resource sharing; and
Communicate our successes and challenges to stakeholders, to bring greater recognition and support for our work and the DHS web/digital community as a whole.
Keywords
Leadership
News
Point of Contact (POC)
Last Updated:
08/29/2025
Back to Top