Crisis Communications: Preparation & Response. Sara M. Antol, Esq. Robert E. Butter, APR

Transcription

1 Crisis Communications: Preparation & Response Sara M. Antol, Esq. Robert E. Butter, APR

2 Courts of Law & Public Opinion

3 Today s Discussion One Painful Example of a Crisis and Response Phases of Crisis Management Crisis vs. Issue Six Steps of Crisis Planning The Legal Role within Crisis Management As a Crisis Unfolds What Not to Do

4 A Crisis in the Media KTVU Newscast Asiana Flight Disaster: KTVU Newscast Blunder, Later Apology July

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6 The Unraveling of the KTVU Crisis Timeline - Asiana Airline Pilot Name Incident Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Crashes at San Francisco International Airport NTSB "confirms" pilot names KTVU airs "Confirmation" of names during Noon news broadcast NTSB issues statement apologizing and promising to take steps to ensure this never happens again KTVU profoundly apologizes in two on-air and social media statements for succumbing to blunder 14-Jul-13 NTSB fires the intern who confirmed the names with KTVU Asiana Airlines decides not to proceed with lawsuit because of the immediacy and sincerity of KTVU's on-air apology 24-Jul-13 6-Jul Jul Jul Jul-13 Asiana Airlines announces plans to sue KTVU and possibly the NTSB for "badly damaging its reputation" KTVU fires three producers connected to the broadcast that went awry

7 Business News Coverage of Crises

8 Most Newsworthy Crises in Business

9 Phases of Crisis Management PREVENT PROTECT CURE RECOVER EVALUATE MONITOR

10 Crisis or Issue? Crisis An event that can create a firestorm of harshly negative media coverage and damage the reputation, valuation or future viability of an organization. Issue An external or internal factor usually lasting over a mid-to long-range timeframe that could represent a serious obstacle to achieving an organization s objective and cause damage to its reputation if not managed well. Conversely, if managed well, it could represent an opportunity to further the organization s mission and enhance its reputation.

11 Essential Crisis Principles Scenario-map; always assume the worst-case scenario Ensure that you have a plan; it sensitizes management to the negative possibilities Don't lose precious time People always come first; be humane; express concern and what you plan to do Learn lessons from what has happened in your sector/industry Consider what law suits will ensue, but not at the expense of caring about people and safety

12 Six Steps of Crisis Planning 1 Identify the Issues Develop a Team 2 3 Develop Policies and Standards 4 Prepare Responses 5 Train and Practice 6 Update and Review

13 Step 1 Identify the Issues Brainstorming Scenario Planning

14 Step 1 Identify the Issues What Keeps You Up at Night?

15 Categories of Crises Natural Disasters Technological or System Failures Confrontations Malevolent Acts Organizational Misdeeds Workplace Violence Rumors Terrorist Attacks

16 Categories of Crises Natural Disasters - Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Tsunami s

17 Categories of Crises Technological or System Failures-Exxon Valdez, BP in the Gulf, Adobe Software breach, product recalls

18 Categories of Crises Confrontations-boycotts, pickets, UPMC-Highmark, Russian Vodka, Barilla Pasta

19 Categories of Crises Malevolent Acts -product tampering, kidnapping, Tylenol, Sandy Hook Elementary

20 Categories of Crises Organizational Misdeeds -Penn State, Enron, Lehman Bros., Anthony Weiner, Martha Stewart, etc.

21 Categories of Crises Workplace Violence -Western Psych, Washington, D.C. Navy Yard Shooting

22 Categories of Crises Rumors -Wall Street trading, acquisition leak, digital/social media, P&G Pamper Drylock Diapers, Snapple

23 Categories of Crises Terrorist Attacks - 911, London subway, Boston Marathon

24 Crisis/Issue Planning Model

25 Crisis/Issue Planning Model

26 Step 2 Develop a Team Define the team CEO Regulatory Operations PR & Corp. Affairs Legal Risk Management Marketing Responsible to prepare the plan, meet regularly to update and test it

27 Step 3 Develop Policies and Standards Guiding principles that will apply in every crisis scenario o Emergency response plan, policies o Media and social media policies o Designated spokespeople, trained for media activity o Internal/external phone and contact information o Business Continuity plan at the ready Honesty, timeliness, directness and ethical standards Follow and support the legal strategy

28 Step 4 Prepare Responses For each issue, identify all affected audiences Define the scope of the issue and establish a unified response Keep message simple, clear, consistent and tailored Prepare materials for each scenario o Media statements o Press releases o Media contact information o Potential questions and answers

29 Step 5 Train and Practice Clearly identify all members roles and responsibility Train the team and other potentially affected employees Practice actual crisis scenarios Make sure there are well-defined communication and notification lists to ensure immediate access to all team members

30 Step 6 Update and Review Review and update as circumstances change (mergers, acquisitions, new product lines, etc ) Review issues inventory quarterly Review emergency and crisis plans annually If crisis occurs, review and evaluate response and modify plans and process for improvements

31 Legal Counsel s Role - Planning Integral to crisis management planning Important role of communicating/sharing with Board Connect to Business Continuity planning Assemble own team of outside advisors Pre-designed written materials at the ready

32 Legal Counsel s Role When the Crisis Hits Legal counsel needs to be among first notified and plays a critical role on the response team Legal counsel may lead an investigation Lawyers are generally not the best spokespeople Inherent public distrust of lawyers Propensity for initial reaction to be no comment Resist no comment it feels defensive, suspect; other ways to be affirmative without providing detail

33 Legal Counsel s Role Working with the Team

34 Apologies & Transparency

35 Apologies & Transparency Use of apologies in response to a crisis creates particular issues from a legal perspective, yet can be important and effective Being transparent does not have to mean falling on your sword or being extreme Conversely, admitting wrongdoing can help your cause in both courts of law and public opinion Interests must be weighed; think credibility with legal safeguard in mind

36 As a Crisis Unfolds 1. Characterize that the situation is under control, protect people, property 2. Determine news value of situation; decide if/when to go public 3. Gather all the facts; don t speculate 4. Develop message points; anticipate questions w/answers 5. Confirm, prepare spokespeople; no such thing as off the record 6. Provide script for those answering phones; log all calls 7. Draft, distribute statement or news release; press conference if necessary 8. Show concern for public, employees 9. Share information with employees

37 As a Crisis Unfolds 10. Rehearse spokespeople 11. Give media all the news; control information flow 12.Tell it all, tell it fast, and tell the truth 13. Be honest; do the right thing; prepare for/discuss remediation 14. Monitor traditional, digital media 15.Be prepared to answer all hot seat questions, then bridge to a positive position 16.Consider some act of goodwill or positive gesture in the aftermath 17. Maintain contact with media; update as necessary 18.If a mistake is made, admit it and begin the process of reestablishing credibility

38 What Not to Do 1. Play ostrich 2. Start to work on a potential crisis after it s public 3. Let your reputation speak for you 4. Treat the media like the enemy 5. Get stuck in reaction mode versus getting proactive 6. Use language your audience doesn't understand 7. Don't listen to your stakeholders 8. Assume that truth will triumph over all 9. Address only issues and ignore feelings 10. Make only written statements 11. Use "best guess" methods of assessing damage 12. Not coordinating every major action step with legal counsel

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40 Thank You!