How to Tell Customers Bad News
Whether you agree with Lanny Davis’ politics or not, he has some excellent insights when it comes to crisis management. Here he is, writing for The Impact Lawyers… When managing a crisis, communication skills are often contradicted by the human instinct to put the best light on bad news. Specifically, there are three natural, human […]
Colonial Pipeline Incident: What Happened and Why It Matters
From David London, Managing Director at The Chertoff Group, writing for Homeland Security Today… On Saturday, May 8, Colonial Pipeline confirmed that its information technology (IT) systems were compromised by a ransomware attack. As a precaution, Colonial temporarily halted operational technology (OT) functions across four of its mainlines that transport gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, stretching from […]
Lawyers & Outrage Management – Why Do Attorneys Usually Dislike Outrage Management?
Regular readers of this newsletter know that one of our favorite writers and consultants is Dr. Peter M. Sandman. Creator of the “Risk = Hazard + Outrage” formula for risk communication, Peter Sandman is one of the preeminent risk communication speakers and consultants in the United States today, and has also worked extensively in Europe, […]
Misinformation, Disinformation and Hoaxes: What’s the Difference?
From Michael J. O’Brien and Izzat Alsmadi, writing for The Conversation… Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging, even for the experts. Just talking about this ever-shifting landscape is confusing, with terms like “misinformation,” “disinformation” and “hoax” getting mixed up with buzzwords like “fake news.” Misinformation is perhaps the […]
The Slander Industry
From Aaron Krolik and Kashmir Hill writing for The New York Times… At first glance, the websites appear amateurish. They have names like BadGirlReports.date, BustedCheaters.com and WorstHomeWrecker.com. Photos are badly cropped. Grammar and spelling are afterthoughts. They are clunky and text-heavy, as if they’re intended to be read by machines, not humans. But do not […]
How Johnson & Johnson Could Regain Public’s Trust In Covid Vaccine Crisis
From Edward Segal, writing in Forbes… The decision to put the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine on pause in the U.S. after six cases of blood clotting were linked to women who took the shot has forced the company to deal with yet another crisis situation. Hours after the pause was announced, the company said it would delay rolling out the vaccine in […]
“Use As Directed” Isn’t Just a Lawyer-Mandated Slogan
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications (Editor’s Note: The article below was written on April 19. On May 5, Peloton completely reversed itself and agreed to recall its Tread Plus treadmills from the U.S. market in a deal struck with federal safety regulators. “I want to be clear, Peloton made a mistake in our initial response […]
“I’m Afraid to Open Twitter”: Next-Level Harassment of Female Journalists is Putting News Outlets to the Test
By Charlotte Klein, writing for Vanity Fair… It started late one day, and you could see it kind of building on social media,” Washington Post national editor Steven Ginsberg recalled of the torrent of online abuse directed last month at Seung Min Kim. The Post reporter had been photographed showing Senator Lisa Murkowski a critical tweet sent by Neera Tanden and seeking comment, a standard journalistic practice somehow interpreted as […]
A Peek Inside a Crisis War Room From Chicago Navy Pier’s Top Communicator
By Sophie Maerowitz, writing for PRNews… In this installment, we hear from Payal Patel, communications director at Chicago Navy Pier, who shares her approach to a crisis war room, as well as her take on PR’s role in the tourism industry’s recovery. PRN: What is your role at Navy Pier in Chicago? What are some […]
What’s Next When Your Apology is Not Accepted
From Michael Toebe, writing in SmartBrief: Apology, even a sincere, well-meaning one, is not always accepted. One’s name, credibility and reputation are mud. Forgiveness and trust are not granted. What then? It can prove helpful to go through a detailed, yet simple process to increase the odds of your apology eventually being well-received. Start with […]