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Part 1
Understanding Media Relations
Media relations during emergencies are crucial – not just for your company but for media organizations as well. The crisis is important to the media because it has the potential to create big business for the news media. Thus, developing a news media relations strategy for your company is crucial because the public depends on traditional media in crisis for its insight and, though declining, its credibility. A media relations strategy is a communications tool that provides great exposure, great risk, and great opportunity for real-time surprises.
This chapter will help you to:
Achieve novel, powerful, positive emergency media responses.
Develop media relations policies, procedures, and plans.
Deal with network news programs.
Understand the requirements of being a good spokesperson.
See the crisis from the point of view of the reporter or editor.
Create and deliver the message that best represents your organization.
Manage victims and their needs.
1.1 The Crisis Media Relations Policy
1.1.1 Sample Crisis Media Relations Policy
The first step in managing relations with the social and traditional media is to establish a sensible, professional crisis media relations policy. Here is a seven-point sample approach.
1. Regional managers and Headquarters Media Relations employees are the designated spokespersons for XYZ Company, its parent, and subsidiaries.
2. All other employees must secure prior approval from Headquarters Media Relations for any outside publication, speech, interview, discussion, or other communication with or to the media if it involves XYZ Company or can have an impact on the Company.
3. Media calls from national and international media should be directed to Headquarters Media Relations.
4. Calls for financial information or overall (rather than regional) company information should be directed to Headquarters Media Relations.
5. The Headquarters Media Relations team will answer calls from financial analysts either by using information in the public domain or by referring calls to Investor Relations.
6. Local media calls are to be handled by local managers when regional regulatory activity, local employee information, or regulatory questions are involved.
7. Local issues may be discussed with the media if the information is public or if it is not material. Material information is that which would influence a reasonable investor to buy, sell, or hold stock. It is important that questions about this type of information be directed to Headquarters Media Relations and Investor Relations.
Organizational messages, regardless of who conveys them, must always be internally and externally consistent.
1.1.2 Guidelines for Designated Spokespersons
Organizational messages, regardless of who conveys them, must always be internally and externally consistent. Always use or obtain approved language. Model guidelines could include:
1. Predictions about strategy, earnings, sales, value of the company, industry trends, and the like must be avoided. Widely known existing strategies can be discussed as long as they are expected to remain the same.
2. Under regulation FD (Full Disclosure), the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) considers that all company spokespersons, regardless of title or level, equal XYZ Company representatives. In fact, under FD, all audiences are to receive equal treatment at the risk of penalties and sanctions that the SEC has become quite accustomed to imposing.
3. In 2002, the United States Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a law that initially imposed very strict regulations on accounting and disclosure. The passage of this law affects most publicly held companies regardless of where they operate in the world. Recent amendments to Sarbanes-Oxley adopted and initiated in 2004 set even more stringent requirements in terms of ethics and the behavior of corporate leaders, and the punishment they can experience should corporate governance laws be violated. The Sarbanes-Oxley laws have been subsequently amended and remain controversial.
1.1.3 Good Spokesperson Practices
In situations of crisis or catastrophe, the importance of competent, compassionate, careful spokespeople is crucial. After reading this section, one could argue that these techniques and practices are those of any good spokesperson. That would be true. However, in times of crisis and catastrophe, bad things happen faster and control is lost much more quickly. It is the spokesperson who sets the tone, tempo, and expectations of those paying attention or relaying on the spokesperson for information.
Remain calm. Crisis and catastrophe communication require the highest levels of professionalism from spokespersons. Whether the spokesperson is the most senior executive in the organization or someone else, that person’s job is to reassure people, exhibit confidence and competence, and use his or her words and writings to help focus on resolving the issues at hand and reducing the production of victims and collateral damage.
Coordinate all comments with the crisis website. Since most real news covers adverse situations, reporters tend to be quite experienced in covering crises. Therefore, they have a natural suspicion of information handed out by paid representatives, causing reporters to look for discrepancies rather than story lines. Make certain that whatever is said from a lectern, liv...
