Crisis management
Sometimes, whether it's your fault or not, you are faced with a negative story
about you in the media. It's one of the risks of seeking publicity. It's a risk worth taking, especially if you know what to do to minimise the
impact of that negative story.
First, accept it could happen and when it does, you won't be able to control it.
All you can do is minimise the damage.
Secondly, have faith that the media does not want to libel you, they don't like
the paperwork and hassle that goes with it. They are interested in a telling a
story accurately and correctly. And if that's a bad story for you, that's how
the cookie crumbles this time. Note, the national newspaper are a rare exception
to this. It's rumoured they factor in the costs of defending libel cases as part
of their marketing costs! But unless you're a national TV celebrity, this really
isn't something to worry about.
Here are the suggested steps to take in a crisis:
1. First steps
Take the call from the media and the journalist's contact details and deadline.
Establish what they think the story is and what they want. Don't offer any
comment at this point. Instead do your own research, gather the facts and check
it out.
2. Control communications
Lock your business down. Ensure that you (or your appointed spokesperson) is the
only person who speaks to the media. It's not unheard of for a journalist under
pressure near deadline to try and get answers out of your receptionist, and
quote them as a "company insider". Make sure every single member of staff knows
not to say anything to any journalist - not even confirm basic information - and
who to pass the calls onto.
3. Initial response
You must always work to the media's deadlines. They'll publish whether you're
ready or not. If it's tight, consider a holding statement, i.e: "We are not in a
position to comment fully on what has happened. A full investigation is underway." If you don't have a Factfile ready, consider putting together a background
question and answer sheet for journalists, confirming basic facts about your
business
4. Risk analysis
What could you lose or gain from this? Be realistic, and take advice from
experts where necessary. If you had a massive problem with your finances, you'd
hire an accountant, right? You should treat any potential damage to your
business's reputation in the same way. This isn't a speciality of Publicity Heaven, so type publicity crisis into Google and pick a business that crops up.
5. Full response
When all the facts have been gathered and checked, prepare a full response. This
can either be a press release, or a statement, or you can just call the
journalist back. Be as honest as you can. And don't forget to supply the
journalist with quotes.
6. Review
Always do a debrief - establish how effective your plan is, how well you
responded, the eventual outcome, and what you need to do better next time.