By now, everyone is aware of the News Corporation hacking scandal unfolding in England. Amidst the coverage, I came across an article from Forbes’ writer Robert Wynne who posted an interesting take on the scandal from a “what not to do” PR scenario. The article titled, “News Corp Hacks Public Relations Efforts,” outlined several PR blunders made by News Corp. that I thought were particularly useful for companies, of any size or industry, that find themselves in a crisis communication mode.
Wynne begins by noting that News Corp. did the right thing by coming out immediately and apologizing for the mistakes made by its newspaper, News of the World. However, Wynne notes that the company’s PR efforts slid downhill from that point forward, as they broke what he (and I) considers to be the top three things of what not to do in PR. The effect this had on the entire situation was negative amplification, which gave people more to latch on to and complain about.
Here are the things that Wynne notes that News Corp. PR botched:
- “Blame the Media.” It’s well-known that PR and media have a love/hate relationship. It’s the media’s job to cover stories, good or bad, and to cover them from an unbiased position. Therefore, when PR points a finger at the media effectively accusing them of making the situation worse by writing about it, you’re just asking for negative attention. If your company makes a mistake, own that mistake and work to help the media write as balanced and accurate story as possible.
- “Downplay the Crimes.” Wynne notes that the Wall Street Journal (a News Corp.-owned newspaper) wrote an article that claimed the phone hacking tactics were “business-as-usual.” Since News Corp. already apologized for the mistakes and several arrests have already been made, downplaying the idea that this is normal and the outrage is overblown, only serves to aggravate those who are hurt.
- “Defend the Tainted.” Wynne condemns News Corp.’s behavior of using the reporters at FOX and Wall Street Journal to downplay the illegal actions of News of the World’s employees. Since these reporters likely had nothing to do with the scandal nor the people involved, News Corp. is risking tainting the reporters by association. Typically in PR, you don’t want to instigate the “snowball effect” and get otherwise innocent parties involved in the situation.
Wynne goes on to note that sometimes the best defense isn’t a good offense, as the old adage goes. In this case, and as is often the case in crisis communication, the best defense is often a good defense. If News Corp. had come out, apologized for the major lapse in judgment, and quietly participated and accepted the consequences, the media and the rest of the world would quickly lose interest and move on. However, by continuously finger-pointing and firing up the media, News Corp. has guaranteed themselves several more weeks, possibly even months, of scandal coverage.
Here at Communiqué PR, we always recommend that our clients have a crisis communication plan firmly in place, even if being a part of a crisis is hard to imagine. It’s always better to be over-prepared in these situations than to be caught off-guard, which normally leads to hasty decision-making.
If you need more information about what constitutes a good crisis communication plan, visit our recent blog posts “Crisis Communication Planning and the Impact of Social Media” and “Crisis Communication Lessons from Floyd Landis.”
Have you found yourself in a crisis situation? Any additional tips you’d like to add? Please leave your suggestions in our comments below.