There are some in public relations who would say that negative press is better than no press at all. “As long as they spell your name right,” the old adage goes. While there is some truth to that, getting negative press can seriously damage your company or nonprofit’s reputation, endangering your funding, your customer base and your very future.
Nearly 30 years ago, while volunteering as a driver for the Kennedy Center Honors, I made an enormous mistake. I dropped off television director Don Mischer and his camera crew at the wrong gate to the White House, forcing them to run around the block, heavy equipment in tow, to get into the White House to film President and Mrs. Reagan, and still have time to get back to the Kennedy Center for the rest of the show.
There is not much I can say more about the Susan G. Komen Foundation debacle that hasn’t already been said. They stepped in it and were unprepared for the push back and fall out. But at the core of this mess is that Komen lost sight of what they were all about. And that was why there was such an outcry. In the Twitter and Facebook age, that outcry was immediate and fast, causing a public relations firestorm so hot that Komen had to reverse its decision about withdrawing funds from breast screenings at Planned Parenthood, so as not to be consumed by it.
Not long ago, the daughter of a friend asked me what she should major in for a career in PR. Without a moment’s hesitation, I said it doesn’t matter as long as you know how to think and how to write. If you can do those two things, you’ll be successful in public relations or for that matter in almost any career.
Today I got a notice that the bill for the second-semester tuition for my daughter at Penn State is due. As I read that email, I was reminded of what a colossal failure and tragedy this scandal is on so many levels, least of which is how the university is managing any form of crisis communications with key constituents such as parents, donors, alums and the students themselves.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a fine, public liberal arts institution, faced a big problem. Mold sickened students and displaced 250 of them from their dorm rooms. What did the college do? It found a cruise ship to provide temporary housing while they remediate the mold problem.
With all the means we have to communicate today, sadly it seems we understand each other less. Recently, there was a sprited discussion on Linked In’s Public Relations and Communications Professionals Group, triggered by an article in Forbes, entitled, Young people stop just Texting me and Give me a Call once in a while, PLZ!
Last week, I was talking with a few nonprofit executives about communications issues they face and what kind of training in communications would be most useful to them if it were available. A huge issue, not surprisingly, is time and resources to undertake communications programs.
Yesterday, I did a webinar on media relations, that is, how to work effectively with the media. The question most on folks’ minds was how to go off the record with a reporter.
The earthquake in Japan and dangerous situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant reminds us of how quickly and suddenly disaster can strike. Compounding the terrible human tragedy is the sense that people do not trust the information they are receiving and feel that the power company is not telling them the truth.
