Crisis Management - from Winning with the News Media

Below are excerpts from the Crisis Management chapter of

Winning with the News Media

2005 Edition
Copyright ^© 2005, 2001, 1999, 1996

By Clarence Jones

Crisis Management

Survival Often Hinges on What
You Do and Say in the 1st Hours

In most crisis management scenarios, the outcome depends heavily on what you do and say in the first few hours. What the news media report in their first stories — and how they view your coping skills — will often set the tone for the entire crisis. Chances are, the media's first impression will persist until you have overcome the problem and emerged victorious ... or you've been humiliated, fired, put out of business, arrested, sued, divorced ... the list goes on and on.

We Don't Want to Think About It

Planning for crises is something we avoid. It is like buying life insurance or long-term disability insurance. Most people don't do it because they don't want to think about the possibility of their own death or disability. We have been forced by law and mortgage lenders to get accustomed to buying accident insurance for our cars, homeowners insurance for our houses. Medical insurance for most of us is provided by our employers.

But we still try to avoid contemplating those greater disasters that can lead to our death or disability; as well as the destruction of an organization — the careers, productivity and morale of the people who work there.

Perhaps the 9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks will change us, harden us, make us willing to face the possibility of sudden disaster that cannot be predicted. And make us do a better job of preparing.

The Police Shooting Model

In recommending crisis plans to my clients for more than 20 years now, I have told them most people do not think or function well when the crisis hits. I learned that when I was reporter, covering "officer involved shootings."

When an officer is down, or has shot someone, the call goes out on the radio. Officers rush in, sirens screaming, blue lights flashing. There is chaos at the scene. Without careful planning in advance, highly excited or grief-stricken officers will do something everyone will later regret. Or fail to do something that, in hindsight, was a terrible blunder.

Things to Do

So virtually every law enforcement agency in America has an "officer involved shooting checklist." The last one I looked at had 21 things to do immediately after the shooting. Like notify the chief, wherever he/she is.

If an officer is the shooter, isolate him/her. Offer the officer psychological and legal counseling. Relieve him/her of duty. Take custody of his/her weapon. Notify the officer's family. Do not move the corpse until it has been viewed by the medical examiner and prosecutor.

Media Crisis Plans Are Rare

Most organizations have written plans for fires, storms, floods. They practice those plans frequently. Should a fire or storm or flood occur, everyone will know — without thinking — what needs to be done and how to do it.

Very few organizations have media crisis plans. And those that do rarely rehearse them.

Most of you reading this will have a media crisis long before you have a fire or tornado or flood. And media crises in a media-driven society can be much more damaging, much more demoralizing than those hazards of nature.
The checklist I've provided at the end of this chapter is a skeleton to build on.

Organizations who use it should flesh it out, custom-tailor it to their particular needs and people. Revisit it regularly to improve it and keep it up to date.

What is a Crisis?

A crisis is the imminent risk of death or serious damage. It can threaten you, people you care about, your organization, your property, your reputation, your career, your future.

If and when the media discover the crisis, your skill in influencing how they report it — or decide not to report it — are key factors that determine the outcome.

The tone of the early stories usually hinges on how well reporters and editors know you, your understanding of media strategy, your experience and reflexes in dealing with journalists.

One of the most difficult steps in crisis management is making the decision that there is a crisis. Wait too late, and you may not be able to save the sinking ship.

Send everybody to battle stations when hindsight shows there was no Armageddon looming, and you'll look like Chicken Little. A pathetic, paranoid manager who's out of touch with reality.

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This chapter continues with a list of worst-case scenarios and recommends that you bring in outside public relations help if the situation is critical. It explains why outsiders will do a better job and suggests criteria for choosing them to help you survive the crisis.

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Never under-estimate the crisis.

	If you under-estimate, once they learn the real extent of the problem, reporters will feel like you tried to deceive them
	If you under-estimate, you can be blamed for your lack of knowledge and skill, once we know how bad it really is
	If solving the problem becomes a long, difficult task, the news media expected it to be, and you won’t be faulted
	If you over-estimate the crisis and then solve it quickly, it appears you have immense power and skill

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The chapter continues with a series of real-life media crises which led to disaster when executives under-estimated the extent of the crisis, and/or failed to quickly become publicly involved in the solution. The list of crises analyzed includes:

The Exxon Valdez oil spill

The sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk

The U.S. Navy's Tailhook scandal

Two commercial plane crashes

Former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit's media image after
the murder of a Congressional intern, and

The Catholic Church's coping with an epidemic of
stories about priests sexually abusing children

The chapter offers a check-list of reminders of how you will/should appear to the world through the eyes of the media. It emphasizes the need to stay focused on the good guy/bad guy strategy.

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Bring the news media inside your crisis. Brief them frequently. Let them watch at close range how you handle the crisis. At first glance, this seems absolutely absurd. But it works. Here’s why:

	Reporters are, by nature, gossips
	Being inside gives them special knowledge, power and prestige
	By watching your decision-making process, reporters can better understand the options
	They are more likely to report you were the good guy who did the right thing, and made the best of a bad situation
	The Stockholm Syndrome takes over

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The chapter continues with an explanation of the Stockholm Syndrome and shows how it played out during the 1982 Tylenol disaster -- widely considered the most successful handling of a crisis in the 20th Century. It explains the psychological dynamics of dealing with reporters this way. It then suggests ways to keep the story local; the targeting phenomenon that occurs during media crises; and the need to think outside the box.

The chapter concludes with a lengthy, detailed checklist to help you create your own media crisis plan.

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