| ‘Adverse media coverage can bring down your business’ Companies who do not take major steps to ensure they can communicate effectively with the media in the event of a crisis seriously risk damaging their reputations and putting themselves out of business. This was the hard-hitting message delivered recently by award-winning former BBC TV correspondent Alistair Macdonald who argued that lower public perceptions of the business community have made corporates much more vulnerable to business failure in the event of adverse media publicity. “The media is your greatest untapped asset. If you get it right, it can be an enormous advantage,” said Mr Macdonald, pointing out that incredible growth in the number of UK radio stations (400 plus today) and TV channels over the last 20 years has significantly increased opportunities for publicity. “But if you get it wrong, you can really be causing yourself problems. Your shareholders may feel outraged and, at the slightest hint of a problem may simply turn around and sell their shares.” Speaking at a seminar on crisis management, organised by Reliance Security Services, Mr Macdonald explained that corporate scandals such as insider dealing, have made companies much more suspect and, consequently, more accountable for their actions to both the public and government. The UK Government’s Draft Bill on corporate killing – a proposed change to the law which will make organisations, as a whole, liable for deaths resulting from negligence, is a typical example of such tightening up. In order to protect their reputations and ensure their public image is not tarnished should they experience a crisis, companies should provide their senior executives with ongoing training in how to handle the media, warned Mr Macdonald. “Business perceptions are crucial. It does not matter what the truth is if perceptions of you are not what you want them to be.” The importance of handling the media effectively during a crisis was also emphasised at the seminar by Ken Dietz, director of DMS Consultancy. Mr Dietz called on companies to draw up communication plans - well in advance of a possible crisis event - to handle not only the media, but also their employees, employees’ families, the government and other interested parties. “In the aftermath of a crisis you should use every means of communication to offset rumours,” he said, adding that such plans should include establishing an information centre, mapping out a communications network, briefing everyone necessary, providing feedback channels and documenting everything that happens. Describing a crisis as an escalating critical situation, which attracts media attention, interferes with normal business processes and requires dramatic intervention and a ‘new style of management’, Mr Dietz urged companies to interview their senior executives to assess their vulnerabilities. They should then act on such audits by forming specialist crisis teams and providing them with the training required, including media training, as well as putting them on specialist workshops and subjecting them to simulated crises. He also urged companies to prepare a full crisis manual and to keep all their employees up-to-date with it. Explaining why crisis management should be considered vital by all companies, Mr Dietz pointed to business interference, impact on profits, the rise of action groups, the increasing influence of public opinion and fear of litigation as the key drivers. Even more important is the influence of bad media exposure, which is all the more probable and harmful today as a result of the sheer scale of today’s media and the impact of instant communication. “With the media, public perception is involved and you can’t get this back quickly,” he said. Mr Dietz also warned market leading companies that they should be ready to react if a market competitor experiences a crisis. This is because adverse media coverage can degrade public perceptions of the rest of the industry.
•Date:
18th June 2003 •UK •Type: Article •Topic:
Crisis communications
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