Page 36 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

7
1
No Thrillers, but Hard Reality 17
pressure, and they were not alone in that. The journalists also felt the
hot breath of their editors on their neck to come up with a spectacular
article or a solid report.
Union Carbide had prepared itself for that eventuality and was able
to make several general statements. The management informed the
journalists that they had immediately sent a medical specialist with
medicine and respirators to Bhopal and that the physician had a great
deal of experience in dealing with cases of methyl isocyanate inhala-
tion. That news was later augmented with the official statement that a
team of technical experts had also departed for India to investigate the
factory and to ascertain precisely what had gone wrong. The manage-
ment of Union Carbide took the victims of the disaster into considera-
tion immediately and communicated that to the media in order to
create the goodwill that was required.

People always come first

That brings us to the following important principle in dealing with a
crisis. It is essential that companies clearly show their concern about
the incident and the consequences for all the people involved. Union
Carbide did that explicitly by sending the company’s senior executive
to the site of the disaster to gain first-hand information about the situ-
ation and to show his sympathy for the victims. By doing so, Union
Carbide demonstrated what many other companies in crisis situations
sometimes allow themselves to forget: human interests always take pri-
ority. In times of crisis, always ensure that a senior executive is avail-
able to show the company’s concern and to explain what the company
plans to do to reduce the suffering and to deal with the crisis.

Speed

Speed is also one of the keywords in dealing with a crisis. Companies
should take control of the situation as quickly as possible. The
company that has been hit by a disaster is seen as the only authoritative
source of information. Only they can credibly inform public opinion –
via the media – about the causes of the disaster and the steps that will
be taken to deal with the crisis. Union Carbide did that by immediately
organizing a press conference and announcing a string of measures
that had been taken.
This cannot be emphasized enough: in times of crisis it is essential to
communicate effectively and efficiently. Public opinion, after all, will
pass judgement on the name and reputation of the company. In other
words, companies are judged as harshly on the communication about