2. Reading Tench & Yeomans, Chapter 20, Crisis Public Relations Management

3. Murphy’s Law If something can go wrong, it will! Crisis PR is one of the most critical aspects of modern communications Helps to protect companies, their reputations and sometimes their survival

4. Lerbinger (1997) Eight types of crises 1. Natural (e.g. Asian Tsunami) 2. Technological (Mercedes A class crises) 3. Confrontation (Shell Oil & Brent Spar) 4. Malevolence (product tampering, animal rights campaigners) 5. Skewed management values (Barings bank crises – rogue trader) 6. Deception 7. Management misconduct (Enron scandal) 8. Business and economic crises

5. Where do crises come from? “It is not what you now, but who knows it.“ (Information age makes it impossible to keep things confidential) e.g. Lost government disks with peoples data on it / Tax scandal in Liechtenstein “You won’t believe what so and so just told me” (rumours by employees are one of the largest sources of crises)

6. The cost of a crisis Employee concern Legal actions Customer reactions Market confidence and reputation Management distraction

7. Why the media love a crises Crises fits news values of the media (Drama, excitement, surprise, people, controversy) THIS MIGHT LEAD TO: Initial media reports might be speculative, infactual, exaggerated and sensationalised Experts will be called in to comment on why things went wrong, they’ll speculate on possible causes Opinions and rumours Someone might say this was a disaster waiting to happen

8. How organisations prepare for a crises Conduct a crises audit (for your organisation/event /campaign) Prepare a crises manual Conduct crises simulation and training.

9. Identification of crisis existing situations and problems that might develop into a crisis. crisis and problems the organisation (or the industries e.g. competitors) may have had in the past planned activities that might lead to opposition from groups within society such as pressure groups

10. Two important questions to ask when planning for crisis management are: 1) How likely is a crisis to happen? 2) How disastrous is this crisis threatening to be? Fearn-Banks recommends to use two scales to answer those questions (Fearn-Banks, 1996: 20).

11. Probability O-Impossible, basically no chance of occurring 1-Nearly impossible 2-Remotely possible 3-Possible 4-More than possible, somewhat probable, has happened to competitors or similar companies 5-Highly probable, may or may not have previously occurred in company, warning signs are evident Potential damage to the company: 0- No damage, not a serious consequence 1-Little damage, can be handled without much difficulty, not serious enough for media concern 2-Some damage, a slight chance that media will be involved 3-Condsiderable damage, but still will not be a major media issue 4-Considerable damage, would definitely be a major media issue 5-Devastating, front page news, can put company out of business

12. Crisis contingency plan A contingeny plan's aims and objectives are mainly to: remove ambiguity and confusion during a crisis by determining response and communication procedures and responsibilities provide guidance for personnel who manage major crisis events offer guidelines for company spokespeople who communicate with the media and key publics during a crisis state the organisation's policies towards its publics

13. Identifying Key Publics Which audiences are the most likely to be affected by a potential crisis? What are we going to do to communicate effectively with them during the duration of the crisis?

14. Crisis team PR people need to identify a group of people (with backups) who will be dealing with the crisis. This includes crisis communications manager plus assistants crisis communications coordinator (control room???) spokespeople media contact people legal advisors External personnel (fire brigade, police, paramedics, hospitals, health and safety people, government officials and union officials)

15. Selection of spokesperson Comfortable in front of a TV camera Preferably skilled in handling media Able to speak without using jargon Respectful of the role of the reporter, knowledgeable about the organisation and the crisis at hand Able to establish credibility with the media, Suitable in regard to diction, appearance and charisma, Sincere, straightforward and believable, Able to remain calm in stressful situations.

16. Problem of Regulation Unregulated nature of internet gives concern Rumour mill and free for all Mobile phones allow for footage direct from the scene to journalists or the Internet

17. Dealing with the media "no comment" to the media is a bad step Getting the message out quickly The need to be assertive with the media “Tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth”

18. 3 ways of dealing with the media 1. We know what happened and here is all the information 2. We don't know everything at this time. Here is what we know. As soon as we know more we will let you know. 3. We have no idea but we will find out and tell you.

19. Dealing with the media Remember: journalists have the right to interview anyone they want to If they don't get the answers they want from you they will get them somewhere else. They all want a different angle than the reporter standing next to them. They will try for that scoop with you. If the possibility is there to provide them with what they want, consider it very carefully. All media should be treated equally. What is given to one (such as access to an area effected by the crisis) should be available to all media.

20. Testing the crisis plan Playing through scenarios Getting all the people together Checking whether you are reaching publics Updating crisis scenarios in light of environmental changes

21. Key principles of crisis management Be sympathetic / apologetic Centralise or manage information flow Get together crisis team to focus on the event Assume the worst case scenario Have a media trained spokesperson Resist the combative instinct Understand why the media are here Remember all audiences (different types of communication) Recognise the value of short-term sacrifice

22. References Cutlip, Scott M., Center, Allen H. and Broom, Glen M (2005) Effective Public Relations, London: Prentice-Hall. Fearn-Banks, Kathleen (1996) Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Grunig, J.E. and Repper, F.C. (1992) 'Strategic Management, Publics and Issues' in: J.E. Grunig (Ed.) Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 117-157. Lerbinger, Otto ( 1997) The Crisis Manager: Facing Risk and Responsibility, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.