Grading the Statement is a periodic feature on Sound Bites in which we judge the effectiveness of news releases and other public statements.

In the Where’s Waldo? series of books, young readers are challenged to find a wackily dressed Waldo character in crowd scenes from various locations around the world. But in Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt, an adventure book for young readers from Scholastic, readers were looking hard for an entire country – Israel – and not finding it. In a map of the Middle East at the front of the book, the territory that Israel covers is identified as being part of Jordan.

For Scholastic, publisher of the Harry Potter series and other popular titles, the omission of Israel could have been disastrous. The error would have been controversial enough on its own. Adding potential fuel to the flame, however, is the fact that Palestinian children’s books have routinely omitted Israel from maps. According to a recent study, in fact, 96% of Palestinian textbooks do not mention Israel in their maps.

For that same reason, Scholastic was smart not to say too much. The longer it spoke on the topic, the greater the chance it would dig itself into some kind of hole.

The Times of Israel spotted the omission and asked Scholastic to comment, presenting the publisher with a communications challenge.  Let’s see how they did. From the story:

Kyle Good, a senior vice president for corporate communications at Scholastic, told The Times of Israel in an email that her company would stop selling the book until the error was amended in the book’s next edition.

“The President of Trade Publishing who was on a plane yesterday returning from Europe has confirmed for me this morning that we are stopping shipments on this title, making the correction and going to reprint.  We regret the error,” Good wrote.

The response succeeds on several levels. First, the Scholastic communications team decided to put their response in writing – an email – rather than doing it over the phone. Given the intense feelings that accompany any discussion of Israeli geography, and the potential for any statements on the subject to be interpreted (or misinterpreted) in a variety of ways, it was wise for Scholastic to respond in writing, giving itself the time to carefully craft the exact message it wanted to convey.

For that same reason, Scholastic was smart not to say too much. The longer it spoke on the topic, the greater the chance it would dig itself into some kind of hole. Instead, the company succinctly got across its two key messages: (1) its regret over the error; and (2) what remedial action it is taking.

By acknowledging the error without getting into excuses or rationalizations, the company avoids unnecessary debate and any sense that its regret is not sincere. The third piece of information we get in the statement – regarding the whereabouts of the President of Trade Publishing – is not absolutely necessary, but serves a good purpose. It underlines to the Times reporter (and the reader of the story) that although the company is not providing a detailed explanation of the omission, the company takes the matter seriously and is giving it attention at the highest levels.

A commendable response from the Scholastic communications team to an issue that could have turned ugly.

Grade: A-