The recent disasters in Japan – a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster – are stretching the government’s and the electrical power company’s plans beyond the limits of plausibility.

People around the world watched a nervous spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on television advising citizens to evacuate a-mile area around where the company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear generating plant was spewing radiation.

The crisis quickly devolved into a lack of trust which inflicted serious damage on the reputations of both the government and TEPCO.

Critique your crisis communications plan

Analyzing crises in real-time can give you a sense of how fast an emergency can develop. You should be able to release some information from your organization within one hour. It took far too long for TEPCO and government officials to understand the scope of this event.

Suggestion
Review how long it takes your organization to identify and admit a crisis is in progress. This may be a data-driven exercise or it may be based on anecdotal information. No doubt the definitive answer depends on what type of crisis you choose. Whatever you use the conclusion for this exercise might be a subject worth discussing at a crisis management meeting.This may be data and/or anecdotal.

One source for information

Government and TEPCO officials were releasing conflicting information about the situation at the nuclear generating plant. This led citizens and reporters to wonder whether the information they were receiving was accurate. Don’t have competing outlets for news or information.

Suggestions
If, for example, you are required to coordinate with the Coast Guard in a crisis then ensure you have their current contact information in your plan. Invite Coast Guard officials to participate in your crisis response drills and exercises.

Practice preparing for and participating in joint press conferences with outside agencies that respond to the crisis represented. Conduct crisis communications training with representatives from all outside agencies participating.

In other words, if you respond together, practice together.

Don’t speculate

Early in the crisis a reporter asked Prime Minister Naoto Kan when he thought the nuclear emergency involving the Fukushima nuclear power plant would be solved he answered, “matters there should be resolved soon.” The reporter was asking the Prime Minister to speculate.

The problem: A week later the “matters” were worse.

Suggestion
Anyone who has been interviewed about a crisis would like to tell the reporter everything is okay. It’s natural to want to minimize the situation. However, sooner or later the truth comes out and the situation develops another storyline: Your organization doesn’t tell the truth.

If you don’t know, say you don’t know. The best way to learn how to handle these types of questions is to practice them in media training sessions.

Executive clairvoyance

CNN reported that when offered an opportunity to participate in a practice exercise of a worst-case scenario eerily similar to the recent situation, a TEPCO executive declined, reportedly commenting, “That will never happen.”

Suggestion
Although most crisis response exercises should be concentrated on likely emergency events attention must also be given to a major incident. You should have identified at least one “worst-case scenario” for your organization when you did the preparation work for building your crisis communications for the crisis scenario.

Practice the communications plan

TEPCO sources told reporters that although the engineering crisis plans were occasionally exercised the communications portion of the plan wasn’t.

Suggestion
If you find yourself in such a situation conduct your own practice exercises to ensure your team members know their responsibilities and are familiar with the plan.

Check media accuracy

The media often times gets things wrong, especially when the subject matter is as technical as a damaged nuclear generating plant. For example, during the Japan crisis, some American reporters frequently confused kilometers with miles. That can be extremely important information especially when it is used to describe the evacuation area around a plant.

Suggestions
Include a guide with important concepts, pronunciations, spellings and definitions as an addendum to press releases. In some cases a federally required Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) could be helpful.

If you are monitoring the media for stories about your crisis you also should look for mistakes and bring them to the editor’s attention.

However, that wasn’t the case on December 20 when ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer interviewed three of the nation’s top intelligence officials about the terrorism threat level for the holidays. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence and John Brennan chief White House counter-terrorism expert were Sawyer’s guests.

Near the end of the interview she asked Clapper whether the 12 terrorists arrested in London earlier that day posed a threat to the US.

Clapper was speechless.

Why?

Apparently no one briefed Clapper, whose job it is to “connect-the-dots” of terrorist activity unearthed by various intelligence agencies around the world, about the arrests prior to the interview.

The expression “a deer in the headlights” was coined exactly for this situation.

Don’t let this happen to you. Crisis Management Roles and Responsibilities: Team Leader

This is the kind of incident that would mortify any communications professional. Clapper’s staff failed him by incomplete preparation for a prime time network news show.

Whether the interview topic is national security or the Las Vegas Night fund-raising, the organization’s communication team must provide a briefing to the spokesperson. In most cases such a briefing can be conducted in two minutes.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce the chances of your spokesperson being blindsided.

Conduct media training. Media Training

An interview isn’t a normal conversation. There are critically important skills a spokesperson must master in order to be effective when working with reporters.

Although most people are frightened at the thought of appearing on television a knowledgeable instructor coupled with enough time to practice interview skills can give participants the confidence that they can represent their organization effectively.

Monitor media reports. Crisis Management Roles and Responsibilities: Analyst and Media Monitoring: A Look Outside Your Organization

During a crisis you should monitor media outlets important to your organization to gauge the effectiveness of your communications. Monitoring also can help identify new issues that may become fodder for questions in the upcoming interview.

Identify your audiences. Selecting Audiences and Preparing Messages

Your audiences are people directly impacted by the crisis. For example, in the case of a natural gas explosion that leveled a home the primary audience is the family who owns the home.

Other audiences include neighbors, first responders and humanitarian service providers. If appropriate, you could also include a safety message for natural gas customers in the area regarding what to do if they detect the odor natural gas.

Prepare answers for anticipated questions. Selecting Audiences and Preparing Messages

It won’t take long for a well-practiced Crisis Response Team to determine what questions reporters will be asking. It may take more time to develop answers to those questions.

Those answers must specifically address your audiences’ concerns, emotions and needs. Make certain you check for late-breaking developments. You can assume reporters will ask questions about them.

Check your attitude. Crisis Management Media Skills – Avoiding the Big Oops and Crisis Management Communications Roles and Responsibilities: Spokesperson

It’s not an overstatement to say most business people don’t like reporters. As a professional communicator whether you agree or disagree with that statement doesn’t much matter.

You have a job to do and reporters, especially in a crisis, can help you deliver important messages to your audiences.

Your spokesperson’s posture and facial expressions are indicators of whether he or she will succeed or fail before the first word is uttered.

Brief your spokesperson. Crisis Management Media Skills – Avoiding the Big Oops and Crisis Management Communications Roles and Responsibilities: Spokesperson

Preparing and giving the pre-interview briefing to your spokesperson is one of the most important functions of your Crisis Communications Team. It contains information about the audience, the message and any developing situations. In most cases, that briefing can be accomplished in two minutes; its success or failure could affect your organization’s reputation for years.

That’s why the Crisis Communications Team Leader and managers should view the organization’s website as yet another way to connect with your audiences in a crisis, a communications resource in which you control the messages.

A crisis homepage, also called a “crisis webpage” or “dark site,” takes the place of the organization’s normal website homepage in a crisis and is typically prepared, at least in part, before an emergency. That’s because, like a press release, the earlier it is deployed the more effective it will be in disseminating your messages.

However effective, deploying a crisis homepage does not negate the need for the Crisis Communications Team Leader to assign spokespeople to work with reporters covering the story.

A crisis homepage also sends a strong signal that your organization will be forthcoming with verified information about the situation and will be available to discuss your actions with the media. It also says something positive about your organization’s competency and transparency.

The absence of a crisis homepage also says something about your organization’s competency and transparency. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of reputation you desire.

During the tragic West Virginia coal mine explosion last April, a daily check of Massey Energy Company’s website revealed a homepage designed for less tumultuous events. The page included information about why coal should play a lead role in America’s energy strategy and a link to an article highlighting Massey’s safety program.

What would you want to know if you were personally involved in that crisis? Your answer is a good starting point for determining what information should be on your crisis homepage.

It’s early in the crisis which means you don’t have much information. Share what you do know with your stakeholders.

• Situation synopsis
• Contact information
• Initial statement *

* Indicates linked item from crisis homepage

Situation synopsis

The situation synopsis is a short description of what your organization is doing to respond to the crisis. To be considered timely, the situation synopsis mustit be updated at least daily. For example, CPM Energy, a fictitious natural gas provider, could have posted this situation synopsis concerning an explosion and fire attributed to a contractor inadvertently striking a gas pipeline at a construction site.

An explosion and fire injured one person and damaged three vehicles at a construction site in West Valley this afternoon.

West Valley Police spokesperson Marie Williamson said the accident occurred while a worker operating a bulldozer struck a natural gas pipeline at 3167 N. Catalpa St., the flood control area construction site.

The injured worker was taken to University Hospital where officials have not released the person’s identity or condition pending notification of family members.

The fire department has extinguished the blaze and CPM Energy workers have turned off the flow of gas in the area.

Contact information

This section should contain phone numbers and e-mail addresses of people in and outside your organization who can provide information about the crisis and, if appropriate, provide assistance.

During the fictitious natural gas explosion used in the discussion above CPM Energy’s crisis homepage could list contact information for:

• Fire Department
• Police Department
• CPM Energy Emergency Service
• CPM Energy claims department
• CPM Energy media department

Initial statement

The initial statement you provide the media should contain the confirmed information your stakeholders need. As a matter of fact, the statement is the key element of your crisis homepage’s first iteration.

As more confirmed information is discovered add it to the homepage. That could include:

• Updated synopsis
• Current press release*
• Appropriate executive’s comments*
• Videos*
• Relevant media coverage*

*Indicates linked item from crisis homepage

Updated synopsis
Update your synopsis daily, at a minimum. Even if there are no new developments or confirmed information, you can freshen the statement. The CPM Energy document below is a good example of an updated synopsis.

CPM Energy technicians today completed inspecting the 36 construction sites – both active and completed – operational during the last 90 days in the West Valley area near natural gas pipelines. All 36 sites were in compliance with operating standards and showed no evidence of leaks or damage.

If you detect a natural gas odor call CPM Energy at 555-1200 immediately and follow the emergency service specialist’s instructions.

Current press release
Replace the initial statement with the current press release. It should be posted to the crisis homepage the moment it is released to the media. Post subsequent press releases to the crisis homepage.

Executive’s comments
Have an executive with the appropriate job title and rank explain how the organization is responding to the situation. Those comments can be either written or on video.

Please allow me to repeat: Posting those comments in no way relieves you from the obligation to provide spokespeople to work with reporters covering the emergency.

Videos
Feature videos of your employees working to accomplish what your executive in the video above described to show that your organization is mobilized and responding.

Relevant media coverage
When appropriate, post copies and videos of media coverage of the crisis to keep your stakeholders informed.

Test your prototype crisis homepage in crisis exercises. After you’re satisfied with its performance – you should be able to deploy or update it within one hour – demonstrate the concept to appropriate management and develop guidelines for its use.

A crisis homepage is an excellent communications tool with which to ensure your stakeholders are receiving information about the crisis directly from you, uncut and unedited.

From a high-ranking government official to the owner of a local car repair business no one is immune from misspeaking in an interview, especially in the high-pressure environment of a crisis. Thankfully, there are measures you can take to minimize the chance that something your spokesperson says or does during an interview could damage your organization’s reputation.

I was present at such a moment a few days before the first Gulf War began.

As a member of an oil company’s public relations communications team I routinely facilitated interviews about our products, operations and positions on a variety of business issues. Since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 and the Allied response was primarily about who would control Kuwaiti oil the media was interested in information for stories about how a war would affect oil prices. They wanted to talk to the industry decision-makers.

As a result, one morning I was sitting next to an ABC-TV cameraman in the office of the executive responsible for our company’s crude oil supply. Our executive was explaining to a business reporter the benefits of a then-new online system allowing subscribers to track oil prices in real-time.

After the interview the reporter, a former stockbroker, asked our executive to explain a few more features of the system, which he gladly did. After five minutes the reporter said, “Thanks. I’ve taken up a lot of your time so I’ll let you get back to work.”

“No problem,” our executive replied patting the top of his desktop monitor, “I have to get back to manipulating the price of oil.”

Horrified, I glanced at the microphone control and, sure enough, it was still on. In other words, the entire post-interview conversation was recorded, not with any “got you” trickery in mind, but our executive’s attempt at humor while discussing a serious issue was now in the public domain.

Needless to say there was a crowd at the public affairs conference room late that afternoon watching the ABC World News to see if the reporter used any of the material from the post-interview discussion.

To everyone’s relief he didn’t, but the point is, he could have within the bounds of journalistic standards.

That incident prompted us to make some changes in our two-day spokesperson training program that Crisis Communications Team Leaders might consider adding to your media training plans.

Some of those changes included:

Attitude

Regardless of what you think about the media, the quickest way to disseminate information about a crisis or emergency situation to your stakeholders is through the broadcast and online capabilities of media. Yes, reporters and their crews can be pushy and brusque at times but remember they are working under deadline pressure to gather the news and deliver it to millions of people.

Don’t consider an interview a waste of time or an attempt to somehow make your organization look bad. Rather view it as a welcome opportunity to reach out to your audiences.

Your, or your spokesperson’s, attitude can make the difference between connecting with your audiences or casting doubt over your organization’s competence and credibility. Audiences make judgments about attitude and credibility within a few seconds which doesn’t give your scowling, huffy spokesperson much of a chance.

We added this and other information about making a good first impression and, for lack of a better term, body language to the seminar. While you don’t want to devote the entire workshop to these topics they deserve mention.

Practice

Time and situation permitting, practicing delivering your messages out loud can give you a boost of confidence. Knowing what you want to say can help settle the butterflies.

In a crisis, it’s permissible for a spokesperson to refer to notes during the interview; especially when discussing key messages. You might say, “I have some important information for the residents in the area and I’d like to refer to my notes to make certain I cover all of it.”

We carved out a five-minute practice session for each participant before their on-camera interviews. This gave them one more chance, in private, to fine-tune their message and practice delivering it. Just before or immediately following those interviews our role-playing reporters would engage in some informal discussion with the spokesperson.

For example, during training for Gulf War interviews one reporter would say, “I’ll bet you’re getting tired of doing all these interviews.” That could be answered by the company’s view of communicating; “It’s important that our customers have the facts about this situation.”

And furthermore

Here are a few more do’s-and-don’ts that can make your next media training workshop or interaction with the media a success. By the way, a successful interview is one in which you reach your selected audiences with the information they need to know regarding the crisis or situation.

• The mic is always on. Consider every microphone, camera, tape recorder and mobile phone camera in the area to be “on” the entire time reporters or technicians are present.
• You never know who’s listening. Never discuss the issue you are working on in the midst of people you don’t know, for example, in an elevator, taxicab, airplane or restaurant.
• What you say is fair game. While technicians are making final adjustments before the interview or packing up afterward the reporter might strike up some friendly chit chat. Be careful what you say; it’s all on the record.
• Never go “off-the-record”. Except in extremely rare cases, there is no such thing as “off-the-record” in a crisis. OTR and exclusives should never used especially in the early stages of a crisis. Granting special access and information during the crisis will jeopardize your relationship with reporters from the outlets that are not part of the arrangement.
• It’s not funny. Any attempt to use humor in a crisis will be viewed as tasteless and may indicate your organization is not taking the situation seriously.
• Stand up. When participating in a telephone interview, stand up. Standing can help you project your voice. It also serves as a reminder that you are engaged in a media interview, not a normal conversation.
• Don’t speculate. If you don’t know the answer to a reporter’s question say you don’t know, even if your intent is to calm people down. Tell the reporter you’ll get back to her or him with the answer as soon as possible.
• Don’t lie. Further elaboration is not necessary.

Finally

Remember, from the time you see a media truck’s headlights appear until the taillights disappear, everything you do and say is on the record.

Good luck in your interview.

Situations like these are some of the most difficult a communicator can face because they inevitably come down to a balancing between personal privacy and organizational damage control. For a variety of reasons, especially the public’s seemingly insatiable appetite for sordid details about people in power, this type of crisis invites intense media scrutiny.

Do high-visibility personalities facing personal problems deserve a measure of privacy? Of course they do; but only to an extent.

People whose success is based on public approval owe their stakeholders – be they fans lining the fairways, tees and greens of a golf course, constituents who vote or attendees at a charity dinner and auction – an explanation of the crisis and their role in it.

However, the longer a personality waits to communicate the harder it will be to connect with his or her stakeholders. If those stakeholders don’t receive information from the personality involved in the crisis they will assume the worst.

With the exception of criminal activity, in which case the authorities often determine what information can and cannot be discussed, you must say something, anything, to acknowledge the situation and explain what you are doing about it. Use your professional judgment to determine which details should be made public and which should remain private.

Depending on the scope and nature of the crisis the personality should be able to address the public within 48 hours. After that, you and your client are navigating in uncharted, shark-infested waters.

The Tiger Woods Crisis

Early on the morning of December 2, the day after Thanksgiving, golf superstar Tiger Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade, first into a fire hydrant then into a tree, precipitating one of the most widely covered sports stories of the decade.

Stories of the accident flashed around the world with no personal response from the golfer. Seven days into the scandal there were more than 57,000 stories about his infidelity and 80,100 in three weeks.

Later that day Woods and his communications team posted a statement to his website with the awkward headline, “Tiger Comments on Current Events,” that raised more questions than it provided answers. Unfortunately there was no mention of a spokesperson to answer questions and clear up the ambiguities in this statement. There was also no mention of a press conference.

Then on December 11 another statement, “Tiger Taking Hiatus from Golf,” was posted. Once again the statement provided no details about the crisis, didn’t name a spokesperson – frankly nine days into the crisis that spokesperson should have been Woods, an eloquent speaker – and did not disseminate information about a press conference.

Rather than admit the scope of the problem Woods and his communications team opted for what many communications experts call “Death by a Thousand Cuts.” Whenever another of Woods’ paramours came forward the media went into a feeding frenzy and most of their stories ended with the question: Could there be more women?

While Woods was in hiding, the media had little trouble locating crisis management practitioners who gladly offered their opinions regarding what Woods should do. Their advice covered the spectrum from continue hiding and don’t say anything to sit down with Oprah Winfrey and tell his story to the popular television show host and her 7 million daily viewers.

One month into the crisis we still haven’t heard from Woods or a spokesperson. According to The Cleveland Leader, his approval ratings have been “dropping off faster than a car driven off the side of a cliff” from 80-percent two years ago to 60-percent the day after his accident to 34-percent on December 23. A December 16 Los Angeles Times story headline blared, “The Tiger Woods Story Gets Bigger and Juicier.”

About this time allegations of Woods using performance-enhancing drugs surfaced. Then, on December 27, MSNBC aired a program titled, “The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods.”

What might have been a more effective way to communicate in a situation like this?

Go ugly early

In the early moments of just about any crisis a statement from the person or organization involved should be issued defining the situation, explaining what is happening and what’s being done about it. If nothing else, that statement establishes the individual or the organization as a source of information.

Don’t attempt to sugar-coat or “spin” information, blame other people for blowing things out of proportion or attempt to minimize the situation. A short statement is better than rambling on about how the media is out to get you or your organization. It’s naïve to think that by of gravity story becomes one of veracity.

Silence allows the story to develop without your perspective and information. By the time you get ready to communicate the story’s direction will have already been determined written and it will be a monumental task to dig yourself out from under the media stories that already have been written or broadcasted.

There is a discussion about the Initial Statement in an article describing the crisis management communications writer.

Media training

Succeeding in this high-pressure environment requires special communication skills because a media interview is not a normal conversation. That’s why top people in any organization, regardless of size or purpose, must have media training. For further information, see the Media Training page on this website.

Plan and rehearse

Deciding on a course of action while a personality-driven crisis is raging is almost always fraught with internal conflict and panic. Although it might be difficult to imagine such a scenario occurring at your organization, you and your management team should discuss how they will respond.

The discussion should be followed by a tabletop crisis exercise based on a plausible scenario. Don’t forget to update your crisis communications plan based lessons learned during this exercise.

Sage crisis response advice

The best crisis response advice I’ve seen is on the masthead of the Aspen Daily News, “If you don’t want it published, don’t let it happen.”

Media monitoring provides a look outside your organization to learn what people important to it – your stakeholders – are saying about the crisis and your performance. Providing this external perspective, especially during a crisis, is one of the most important functions the public relations, communications or corporate affairs staff of any organization, from a Fortune 500 corporation to a local charity.

This critically important management tool is a product of collecting and analyzing media reports and community web sites covering and commenting on your organization and the situation in which it finds itself.

Gathering this data is fairly simple. Many marketing-oriented organizations already have systems in place to monitor and analyze media and community web sites. Media monitoring firms, also called “clipping services” can tailor collection and analysis packages for individual situations. If you don’t require such intensive, and sometimes expensive, analysis Google and Yahoo news search sites can bring the raw data to your desk and someone in the organization can be tasked to collect, analyze and report this material.

Whatever collection and analysis method you will use arrangements must be made prior to a crisis and specific information must be included in your response plan.

Effective media monitoring provides the following:

• What are people saying about our organization and its response to the crisis?
• Do our messages resonate with our key audiences and stakeholders?
• How effective are those messages?
• Are there developments or issues we are not addressing?

The key elements of media monitoring are:

Coverage

The number of television stories, radio reports, newspaper articles, commentary/editorials and community web sites provides a snapshot of how much attention your crisis is generating and where.

Ask your spokespeople to keep track of the interviews they perform; specifically the reporter and his/her contact information and media outlet.

You might be surprised at how much coverage what seems to be a local story receives, especially when the media needs to fill the 24/7 news cycle.

Storylines

List the most common storylines and comments the media uses in the coverage and commentary and how often they appear in the material you’ve analyzed. This data is key to determining how the situation is perceived.

For example, customers need to know what to do with potentially contaminated peanut butter and your organization has yet to disseminate data information. That storyline is in 72-percent of the stories you’ve analyzed.

Common questions

What are reporters asking and do your statements or press releases address those questions or issues? Your spokespeople can take a moment after every interview to jot down this information.

Effectiveness

How many media reports include your organization’s messages, or at least parts of them? If the answer is “not many” you may have to tweak your messages or rewrite them.

Analysis

Provide a dispassionate analysis of the coverage/commentary you’ve collected. Rate the stories as positive, negative or neutral.

Emerging issues/topics

Are there any emerging issues or topics? For example, the crisis may have started with a chemical leak in your plant however, on Day 2, your monitoring and analysis might detect some reporters are zeroing-in on your maintenance program.

You may also wish to monitor unofficial blogs, message boards and other sites your employees use.

Presentation and staffing

Graphing this data provides a visual map of how the crisis is unfolding and how well your response efforts are working. Those graphs also serve as the basis of your Crisis Response Team (CRT) updates.

Don’t forget, someone must be responsible for updating existing messages or creating new messages to address issues identified from your analysis.

If this process sounds labor-intensive, you’re right. The amount of resources devoted to media monitoring depends on several factors including the size and/or importance of the crisis, people available, time constraints and budget.

Remember, if you neglect media monitoring you will be flying blind, heading for a crash.

It doesn’t matter what size your organization is, or what its purpose is, a crisis can strike without warning to any organization. As a communicator you must be ready to respond.