7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crisis Communications Firm
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Crisis communications is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communications is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, outcomes, and specific behaviors to adopt to reduce the threat. […]
Attention: School Board Presidents, Superintendents & Education Attorneys
We are pleased to announce that Hennes Communications is now providing crisis management and crisis communications services to the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA), giving their members access to our team 24/7/365. Those services include pre-crisis planning, 24/7 crisis response, crisis/media training, litigation communications support, communications audits and tabletop drills. As has already been announced, […]
Special Facebook Tools for Government Agencies and Nonprofits
By Stephanie York, J.D., Hennes Communications It’s worth stating over and over – social media is your organization’s most important tool to disseminate information to your stakeholders amidst a crisis. People who care most about you go to your website. They follow your Twitter feed. Many likely interact with you on your Facebook page. Because […]
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 – What Can Outrage Management Offer the Legal Process?
In the last issue of this newsletter, we brought to you Part #1 of an article written by Dr. Peter Sandman titled Lawyers and Outrage Management – Why Do Attorneys Usually Dislike Outrage Management? You can read that article here. We hope you agree that this article is still very much on-point and relevant, with lessons […]
Lessons From the Pandemic: Gearing Up for the 2021-22 School Year
By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications The title says “schools,” but everything below is applicable to all businesses, organizations and professional service firms. Congratulations, School Leaders. You survived 2020-21 – a school year unlike any other, featuring the continuation of a public health pandemic, the most hyper-charged political atmosphere in memory and social justice issues that […]
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 […]
Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community – Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Next to Warren Buffett’s annual letter to stockholders, one of the most eagerly anticipated document every year is the Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. From Wikipedia: This report is delivered at a hearing of the US Senate Select Intelligence Committee that has occurred each year since 2006, until 2020. Each hearing includes at least one […]
Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online
From Miles Parks at National Public Radio… The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. According to recent data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, you’re three times more likely to get struck by lightning. But you might not know that from looking at your social media feed. A new NPR analysis finds […]