9th Ed.

Chapter 13

Crisis and Credibility

9th Ed.

Objectives• To create awareness of situations that could

become crises.• To plan strategies and implement policies that help

an organization through a crisis.• To recognize the triggering event that precipitates

a crisis.• To understand management's likely response to a

crisis and plan a coping strategy.• To be sensitive to the needs of all publics, including

nimbus publics, when a crisis occurs.

9th Ed.

Anticipating a Crisis• Issues management helps organization

anticipate crises– Challenge is deciding which issues are likely

to engage publics or create an event that triggers a crisis

– Role of PR is informing management about issues and situations that could escalate into crises

– Corporate culture, management attitude determine management reaction

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Recurring Crises• Urban myths can be resurrected• New developments on old issues can bring

old crises back• Continuing action on crisis issue can keep it

at crisis point

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Characteristics of Crises• Always involve people• Always interrupt the normal chain of events

or command

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Categories of Crises• Physically violent or nonviolent• Several causes

– Acts of nature– Intentional acts– Unintentional acts

9th Ed.

Crisis Management• Key is anticipation

– Begin by identifying kinds of crises organization is most likely to face

– Then examine policies that might be put into place to prevent crises in each category of crisis

• Risk assessment– Interpret data from research– Evaluate vulnerability of organization

• Crisis management aided by use of two-way symmetrical public relations– Warnings more likely when communication open and

two-way– Conflicts can be more easily resolved

9th Ed.

Crisis Publics• Some publics easily identified• Some often neglected in planning process

because not immediately affected by but eventually feel the impact– Called nimbus publics

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Imagining a Crisis• Involve as many people in organization as

possible• Take role of intelligent and resourceful

adversary, asking “What’s the best way to wreck this organization?”

• Assume role of corporate management and ask “What is the best response?”

• Start by asking how money, people, products/services, processes and locations of operation will be disrupted

• Consider impact each event will have on each public individually

9th Ed.

Communications Climate and Crises

• Organization’s communications climate has a great impact on how management handles crises

• Shutting off the flow of information is probably worst way to handle a crisis

• An open information flow quells rumors, and makes it possible to create trust

9th Ed.

Anticipating a Crisis• Collect information on potential crises

before they occur• Keep the information readily available to

those most likely to need it• Keep it in a form that is usable in a crisis

9th Ed.

Anticipating a Crisis (cont.)• Types of information to gather:

– Addresses, contact information on all company offices, branches

– Floor plans, employee list for each location– Bio information on all employees, in-depth on

key executives– Photos of facilities, key executives– Statistics on facilities and organization– History of organization

9th Ed.

Anticipating a Crisis (cont.)• Types of information to gather:

– Emergency information such as nearest hospital, police, fire

– Plan for contacting every member of workforce– Organizational documents such as vision,

mission, positioning statements– Position papers on key issues– Information on key publics and how to contact

them– Digitalized video

9th Ed.

A Crisis Plan• A crisis plan should be:

– A guideline rather than an overly detailed process

– Easy to remember– Flexible– Thorough and comprehensive– Communicated– Reviewed regularly and updated

9th Ed.

Crisis Communication Essentials

• Existence of a communications plan as part of crisis plan

• Ability to assemble a crisis team when a crisis occurs

• Use of a single spokesperson during a crisis

9th Ed.

Guidelines for Communications Plans

• Must include strong internal as well as external communication

• Must carefully choose right medium for each public• Must pretest message statements before they are

disseminated• Should designate certain members of crisis team

as fact finders• Legal counsel must be involved to avoid “no

comment” response when openness needed

9th Ed.

Crisis Narrative• Story public hears must be truthful• Key publics must be able to relate to story• Narrative must demonstrate that the

organization has control of the situation and will successfully resolve the crisis

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Crisis Spokesperson• Choosing the one spokesperson is the most

important act dealing with a crisis• May or may not be CEO• Person sets tone for how crisis is managed• Must be perceived as knowledgeable and up to

date on developments• Must have sole responsibility and authority to

speak for the organization• May have one spokesperson for internal audiences

and another for external

9th Ed.

Employees Role in a Crisis• Are on the front line in dealing with a crisis

– Organization’s most credible representatives to people outside the organization

– People will develop perceptions from way employees behave

• Employees should never learn about a crisis from the news media or other second-hand source

9th Ed.

Hindrances in Crisis Management

• Extent of crisis may not be known immediately

• Persons affected by crisis may be hard to identify

• Cause of crisis may be hard to identify, and may be never known

• Crisis is always traumatic to audiences affected directly

9th Ed.

Hindrances in Crisis Management (cont.)

• Accurate and appropriate information about the crisis is expected by the publics, sometimes at unreasonable levels

• Information decisions are made under high stress

• An organization’s credibility is suspect in a crisis

• A crisis incites emotional behavior

9th Ed.

Crisis Constants• People learn about a crisis primarily from

personal networks• People tend to interpret the seriousness of

a crisis in terms of personal risk or risk to people important to them

• Government sources are relied on as the most authoritative

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Crisis Constants (cont.)• Amount of mass media coverage indicates

the significance of the crisis to a global public

• Availability to information in an open-communication environment reduces rumor and increases the accuracy of assessments of the situation

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PR’s Responsibility in a Crisis• Forewarn and prepare management• Continuously monitor publics• Convince management to act• Give management insight and objective information

they don’t have• Provide guidance to avoid arrogance and bad

judgment• Identify appropriate ways to involve employees

9th Ed.

Dealing with the Media• Prepare a first response release

immediately• Issue update bulletins as written briefs,

taped actualities, updates on Web site• Crises generate contradictory information,

hard to keep facts straight

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Role of PR Practitioner in a Crisis

• Conduct the delicate negotiations between the source and media about what to use and what not to use

• Provide enough opportunities for information to be given to the media

• Educate as well as inform the media

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Media Tips in a Crisis• Speedy replies to queries are all important• Keep cool under pressure• If you don’t know the answer, say so and attempt

to get it• Eliminate obstacles reporters might encounter• Never ask to see a reporter’s story• Use your name when providing information and

allow yourself to be quoted by name• Never argue with a reporter about the value of a

story

9th Ed.

Media Tips in a Crisis• Any information that goes to one source should go

to all• Never flatly refuse to provide information• Always know the name and employer of the

reporters you are talking with and how to contact them

• Never give an answer to a reporter’s question that might not stand up or might embarrass you later

• Never falsify or slant your answers

9th Ed.

Media Tips in a Crisis (cont.)• Be especially alert about photographs• Pass information along to reporters as soon as you

get it• Have employee and organization records available

to refer to in the event of a reporter’s question• Point out positive aspects of the organization even

as it deals with crisis• Confine damage estimated to general descriptions

9th Ed.

Media Coverage of Crisis• Instantaneous coverage creates problems

of perception vs. reality• Time pressures may force media to release

information without adequate checking or editing

• Media coverage of military, terrorist events may use inflammatory words or descriptions, and may use victims of terrorism as symbols

9th Ed.

Media Coverage of Crisis (cont.)

• Difficulties arise due to a conflict of opinion about the function, role and responsibility of media in reporting global crises

• Differences in government control of media and journalists’ own sense of responsibility lead to different global interpretations of the same news

9th Ed.

Rumors• Thrive in crisis situations of anxiety,

emotion, uncertainty, distress• Are likely when:

– Authentic information is lacking, incomplete– Situations are loaded with anxiety, fear– Doubts exist– People feel they can’t control the situation– Prolonged decision-making delays occur– Organizational conflict is present

9th Ed.

Combating Rumors• Analyze the scope, seriousness, impact of

the rumor before trying to combat it• Analyze the causes, motives, sources and

disseminators of rumors• Confer with persons affected or damaged

and share your concern• Immediately provide complete and

authentic information

9th Ed.

Combating Rumors (cont.)• Feed the grapevine yourself• Contact the formal and informal leaders,

opinion leaders, influentials to clarify the situation

• Avoid referring to the rumor in the process of combating it

• Conduct meetings to dispel the rumor at the grassroots level

9th Ed.

Crisis Evaluation• Crises should be evaluated in terms of the

damage done or the risk of future damage• Much of the evaluation is based on

communication

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Crisis Evaluation Questions• What was the cause?• What strategies, policies could be

developed that would prevent a similar or related crisis?

• Did the crisis plan work? Are changes needed?

• How did involved personnel perform?

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Successful Crisis Handling• Early detection• Incident containment• Business resumption• Lessons learned• Timely decisions made on facts• Improved reputation as a result of

appropriate response

9th Ed.

Points to Remember• Credibility always at stake in crisis situation• Public perception of honesty, openness is

essential• Failure to be available or prepared

damages credibility