September 5-7, 2018 St. Pete Beach, Florida. Building Tomorrow s Leaders Today. In the Eye of the Storm: Crisis Media Management for Executives

Transcription

1 LEADERSHIP SUMMIT September 5-7, 2018 St. Pete Beach, Florida Building Tomorrow s Leaders Today In the Eye of the Storm: Crisis Media Management for Executives Mr. Ronnie Jones (Retired) Louisiana State Patrol

2 In the Eye of the Storm: Crisis Media Management for Executives Ronnie Jones IPTM Adjunct Faculty Deputy Superintendent, Louisiana State Police (Retired)

3 Our Goals To help you understand what constitutes a crisis To help you better understand the dynamics of a crisis and media coverage To better understand the necessity for maintaining public support and confidence To better understand the means to manage the media during the course of a crisis

4 PRELIMINARY DISCLAIMERS This is not an exact science; there is no cookie cutter approach to managing the media use what fits in your area for your organization It is not necessarily going to convince you to think more highly of reporters or the media It s not going to transform you into an overnight PR expert, a polished spokesperson or a seasoned PIO; experience comes through training and practice

5 What constitutes a crisis? The nature of a crisis will determine your (agency s) response What constitutes a crisis on a slow news day may be less of a crisis on a busy news day It s not unusual that perceptions of a crisis vary Previous agency history can have an impact

6 What can we do in advance of the crisis? Have a plan Have a clear policy outlining roles and responsibilities Provide training for appropriate personnel Understand and accept your agency s inherent vulnerability

7 Some basic rules Focus on what kind of response best serves the public interest Fight the urge to circle the wagons or ignore the gathering storm Own it accept responsibility Take the offense; set the narrative be proactive, get ahead of the story

8 Some basic rules Expect strong social media pushback Monitor the discussion Remember to be human; show genuine concern Collaborate and communicate internally To the extent possible be transparent

9 The biggest mistakes made in crisis communications Only start working on a crisis after it becomes public Expect your agency s reputation to get you through the crisis Treat reporters like the enemy Failure to move from reactive to proactive

10 Biggest mistakes Use words and language your audience doesn t understand Issue only written statements Let your attorneys manage the crisis conduct the interviews Failure to correct bad information

11 Imperatives impacting crisis response Understand the sometimes adversarial nature of the media relationship Promote an organizational culture of candor Understand your boss or agency s media orientation Never knowingly make misleading or deceptive statements; never lie

12 Countermeasures: Bad news, the overview Find out what happened; get the facts Notify appropriate individuals (internal/exptenal) Meet with staff and others as appropriate Assign single spokesperson (the boss?) Prepare plan; staff out official position Issue information as quickly as possible

13 Countermeasures: Bad news, the interview Express your concern about the allegations (or the situation) Acknowledge the obvious we don t know everything at this point Tell what your agency is doing or going to do about the problem (situation, issue, conflict, etc.) Express your personal investment in finding out the truth Provide a non-specific timetable

14 Countermeasures: Bad news, the interview Don t hesitate to assert that the allegation or narrative is false (if it is!) Commit to tell all when it s over Commit to making things right Commit to correcting any problems Assure that you will make whatever changes necessary to prevent recurrence, such as training, policy, supervision, etc.

15 Questions, comments, closing Special thanks to: Berstein Crisis Management Forbes Agency Council