Page 141 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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1 122 Crisis Communication
Before calling the reporter, get all the facts about the incident in
question. Your knowledge, and hence your response, is only as
good as your information.
Involve your legal counsel. Frequently there is tension between
the legal and public relations responses. However, protecting the
company from a legal perspective is crucial, especially during a
time of crisis. Attorneys should have the opportunity to collaborate
with the communication team to determine a reasonable approach
in developing a media strategy.
Determine your key messages and fully develop them. This is a
crucial step. Evaluate words carefully and test them internally.
Consider how they will come across to your customers, to other
businesses and to opinion leaders.
Release the bad news all at once. Whether you have a series of job
lay-offs, or numbers of people near death due to food poisoning at
your restaurant, it is not wise to try to minimize the impact by
letting the news dribble out over time. A huge one-day story has a
shorter-term impact than a drawn-out string of articles that snow-
ball over days, weeks or months. Don’t think that all or part of the
bad news can be contained – eventually it will get out.
Evaluate the media outlet in question and its credibility.
Understand its reach, audience and journalistic style.
Research the reporter and read his or her previous work. Is he or
she experienced? How fairly has he or she covered previous
issues? Is there cause for concern because of his or her approach?
If you decide to move forward with an interview, decide who the
best spokesperson is. Make this determination based on the gravity
of the situation. Often, minor incidents can be handled by a com-
munication professional, while interviews involving more serious
issues should be handled by top management.
Anticipate likely questions and company responses. These questions
and responses should be committed to writing. Think about the
tough questions and determine any areas that you will not address.
Depending upon the situation, decide whether to do a personal
interview or whether to respond in a more controlled manner.
Often, personal discussions are the best course of action. This is
especially true in cases where a human voice can add the appro-
priate credibility, tone or explanation for the situation. However, if
your company is under severe scrutiny, it may be advisable to
prepare a controlled statement whereby you provide a response
but are not subjected to a verbal inquisition by the journalist.
Depending on the nature of the interview, you may ask to respond
to the questions in writing. This provides a more controlled
method of developing your organization’s position.