In other words, perception is reality.  Here’s the potential headline:  “Local History Museum Discards Donations.”  You should have a staff discussion on how to respond to the inevitable public reaction.  Write up talking points if you have to, then structure a release (rather than a reactive institutional statement) that tells a positive story about how your institution is refining its collection and making sure that what you hold is based in verifiable facts. Deaccessions happen.  It’s not illegal or unethical.  It’s actually part of a museum’s duty to the public to make those kinds of decisions.

 

It is rule #1 of media relations that whoever tells the story first, gets to tell it their way.  The other side is, rightly or wrongly, put in the defensive position.  That is not where you want to be, because defenders almost always lose out in the court of public opinion and, as Indigo notes, the repercussions can be huge.  I am put in mind of the recently-discussed situation of the Texas teacher allegedly dismissed because she exposed her students to nude art on a museum field trip.  It turned out that there was way more to that story, but since the teacher put herself in charge of the publicity, she was able to spin it her way.  And that’s the way everyone will forever recall it.