Corporate Crisis Communications | Making the most of what to say when words mean the most.

Everyday headlines blare of misconduct run amok from Tallahassee to D.C. – ethics, sentencing and intelligence hearings dot the headlines.  One common theme that ties all of these investigations together is the common, rote refrains we hear as explanations.  Outright denials to contrived mea culpas to convenient lapses in memories seem to be the only responses we get from politicians or public figure caught in the cross hairs of controversy.  It would be refreshing if at least one new mantra for bad behavior entered the lexicon of crisis. This week we saw all three play out in top stories; Al Franken’s two part apology for playing grab-ass on a plane was the most refreshing – "yes I did and by god I’m sorry, please investigate me".  Although not hugely popular, Al’s response seemed the most genuine.  We also saw a similar, yet less full throated, apology from prison-bound Corrine Brown – but the motives there were clear, "spare me a life in the clink"....

As county courthouses and governmental agencies continue to modernize and digitize public records, information that was once laborious to obtain is only a few mouse clicks away.  The ease of obtaining these records combined with social media ubiquitous distribution points makes for an unforeseen challenge to balance misuse of information with access to public records.   Known as “Doxxing”, the distribution of public information in order to harass or shame someone has become more and more prevalent, as was recently reported by Pro Publica. Used properly, the exposure of publicly available information can be a powerful investigative reporting tool.  However broad distribution of public information without the benefit of professional journalists, editorial boards and legal counsel can be dangerous, malicious and counterproductive to open and transparent government.  If social media cannot find a way to balance open communication with responsible usa...

Now that social media is a ubiquitous part of everyday life, from the White House to Waffle House, maybe it’s time users took a look at their habits.  Sharing is great when it means something, but today’s level of self-absorbed streams of consciousness clogging Twitter and Facebook are probably not exactly what the founders of these now tech giants envisioned.  We have a President who can only communicate in 140 character grunts, regurgitating what Fox and Friends spews leading a generation who is fixated on posting, SnapChatting and Tweeting every aspect of their daily lives. Social Media is captivating swaths of users like a mirror captivates an orangutan at the zoo – with the exception that users have iPhones with data-plans; who can share their every waking thought.  Throw liquor and peer pressure into the mix and you have NewsFeeds that would make the New York Post and National Enquirer cringe.  Recently, some high power politicos have remarked on how ...

When corporations and organizations deal with a crisis, contingency planning is required and is something that must be done long before the crisis hits.  As often is the case one manmade corporate crisis will cause a domino effect as was seen recent when Fidelity Investments sacked two executives on the heels of Hollywood’s latest sexual harassment epidemic.  However the two cases illustrate different contingency planning processes, the Hollywood studio had very little in the ways of succession planning for such crises whereas a stolid Boston bank was prepared to easily remove rogue players. When corporations and organizations deal with a crisis, contingency planning is required and is something that must be done long before the crisis hits.  As often is the case one manmade corporate crisis will cause a domino effect as was seen recent when Fidelity Investments sacked two executives on the heels of Hollywood’s latest sexual harassment epidemic.  However...

Another week and another communications nightmare emerges from the White House.  Of all the things CEO’s must do the most difficult has to be addressing the loss of a colleague, executive or member of a company.  Multiply that difficulty by 10 if you are the leader of the Free World and that loss is an active duty military member killed in action.  For the past few decades the call from the President of the United States to the Family would be a somber ritual devoid of partisan politics, drama and disdain, but nowadays that’s not the case with the latest Trumpian tantrum . Regardless of the specifics surrounding Trump’s recent call to the widow of a soldier killed in Niger - it isn’t hard to believe an unartful articulator-in-chief botched a routine Presidential duty.  On many levels he is a cautionary tale, but this latest debacle should hit home for any Communication Manager, PR Executive or Communications Graduate Student. Bereavement is brutal and it i...

Pamphlets, bulletin boards and broadsides are nothing new in the scrum of American politics; we have warred internally, with foreign powers and have struggled for centuries to find the balance of what makes us.  Do we stand or do we kneel, do we love it or leave it, do we protest or prostrate – all questions that have been stoked by an amateur band of “media” practitioners operating sans the benefit of editorial or peer review.  As facts emerge about last year’s Presidential election, evidence is slowly emerging that foreign powers would line Mark Zuckerberg’s pocket to frenzy the Soylent Green and sway an election. Social media are like no other media source, they can reach millions in an instant and activate people to move for good or bad.   The speed and reach social media have is greater than traditional media because it lacks an editorial board – people can say pretty much anything they want as long as it abides by broad user agreements and “codes of c...