Archive for the Crisis Communications Category
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I was interviewed by KVAL news about reputation management and crisis communication this week. Our Duck athletes have been having some trouble staying out of trouble and the reporter wanted to talk to me about what they should do. I declined to comment specifically on the story – I don’t have enough “inside” information and because I both teach and have clients at the University of Oregon, I wanted to avoid any perceived conflicts of interest. But I did agree to talk generally about how an organization in a tough spot might respond and think about repairing. This is the short version of the story. If the longer version gets posted, I’ll update.... Permalink
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“I’m sorry.” Apologies seem to be a dime-a-dozen lately. Kanye, Serena, LaGarrette, Coach Kelly, LaGarrette again, Rep. Joe “You Lie!” Wilson (R-S. Carolina), Letterman…In fact, do a Google News search for “apologize” and get more than 13,000 results just from the last week. We all make mistakes, bad decisions and yes, sometimes we even simply change our minds. Celebrities, athletes, politicians and business leaders are no different. But when it happens to people in the public eye, the apology can be a very important part of the public relations and communications effort required to move forward. I do not talk about apologies as PR to minimize their importance and suggest that apologies are in any way “spin” or crafted in a way to only appear sincere. In fact, just the opposite. It’s hard to apologize and do so in a way that communicates your sincerity and intent. PR can help... Continue Reading
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The California Supreme Court has banned the sale of Adidas soccer cleats and other products made of kangaroo leather. Adidas is the biggest commercial buyer of kangaroo leather, which is considered lighter and more flexible than cowhide. Animal rights groups are protesting the use of the leather, and heralding this ruling as a good step in the right direction. According to USA Today, activists say the problem with kangaroo leather is: “…hunters mistakenly shoot endangered species. They also say abundant kangaroo species are killed cruelly – sometimes shot during night hunting parties, and sometimes clubbed to death as babies.” The Predator cleats by Adidas – made of kangaroo leather since their introduction to the market several years ago – have been popularized by none other than superstar David Beckham. Even Beckham, though, is distancing himself from this controversy. His spokesperson responded very tersely to this ruling by saying, “David wears... Continue Reading
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Sprint is skeptical. A Tacoma family insists that their phones are being hijacked. They are getting death threats, someone is watching them through the cell phone camera and leaving terrifying voicemails on both cell and home lines. You can see the Today Show story here. I’ve heard the story on a couple of news outlets, most recently on NPR. The NPR host characterized Sprint’s response as saying it was not possible to do what the family says was being done. From the Tacoma News-Tribune: Complaints to their phone companies do no good – the families say they’ve been told what the stalkers are doing is impossible. From KIRO-TV: “We are unaware of technology that would enable the activity portrayed in this story to occur, and we will support law enforcement as appropriate on investigating the issue,” Caroline Semerdijian with Sprint Nextel said. Media have trotted out a series of experts... Continue Reading
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This post is a letter from my mentor, Leslie Habetler, to some of her crisis planning and management clients. With her permission, I’m reposting it here. As I watch this unfold, I thought it might be helpful to point some things out that would be helpful if you ever face such a situation (in any scale). First it is obvious they have a crisis response plan and they are doing a lot right. For those of you whom I have helped in this way, you can see what they are doing right in handling the media. The President has obviously had good media coaching and they are keeping a careful log of everything they are doing so the media knows they are acting in anaggressively appropriate manner. The university media person is cranking out updates for him at a rapid pace and they are posting them on the website and... Continue Reading
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The annual U.S. News & World Report College Ranking Guide always seems to create controversy. This year is no exception. In the version sent to bookstores, Portland State University’s electrical engineering program was ranked #9 in the guide with such heavies as M.I.T., Stanford and UC-Berkley. In press release: “We are proud that PSU represents Oregon in this prestigious national ranking,” said President Daniel O. Bernstine. “It illustrates how state investments in higher education can increase programmatic capacity and excellence.” “It is very exciting to have our Electrical Engineering program and faculty recognized by national engineering peers,” said Robert Dryden, dean of the college. “This acknowledges the fundamental transformation of the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science into a national and international academic and research institution.” Malgorzata Chrzanowska-Jeske, department chair, leads the Electrical and Computer Engineering program. It turns out Portland State didn’t make the top 10, or even... Continue Reading
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