T.O.W #6

   

*Public Relations during Times of Crisis*

The conflict management process in public relations includes ongoing issues management and risk communication efforts and is highly tested in crisis situations where a large amount of uncertainty exists.

Based on the readings I did from Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics 9^th Edition, I learned that in time of a crisis, no matter how prepared the PR professional is, something can go wrong at any point in time and the event or whatever it may be could fall apart before your very eyes.

Crisis situations are said to put a great deal of pressure on organizations to respond with accurate, complete information as quickly as possible. Depending on how the organization responds within the first 24 hours determines the severity of the situation and whether it would be categorized as an “incident” or a full-blown crisis.

Here are some pointers to keep in mind when handling a crisis:

-Put the public first

-Take responsibility

-Be honest

-Never say, “No comment”

-Designate a single spokesperson

-Set up a central information center

-Provide a constant flow of information

-Be familiar with media needs and deadlines

-Be accessible

-Monitor news coverage and telephone inquiries

-Communicate with key publics

Public Relations professionals have to deal with high-profile events such as accidents, terrorist attacks, disease pandemics, and natural disasters. Crisis management takes places when such events occur.

A very recent crisis that PR professionals have had to deal with has been the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill causing devastating set-backs for fishermen in the area. There has been a recent suicide correlated with the recent disaster. You can read more about it in the article at the LaTimes.com.

Some strategies for responding to Crises are: attack the accuser, denial, excuse, justification, ingratiation, corrective action and full apology.

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