News Channel Sites Can Tell the Whole Client Story
Until recently, the centerpiece of a state-of-the-art crisis management program has been the tried and true crisis management manual. But now, we live in a different era of communication, one that is defined by the immediacy of the news via a vast network of global cables and Web sites.
There is no grace period designated as "response time" in a crisis situation. The new generation of crisis response must deliver its messages one stroke ahead of this new communications environment - in other words, almost immediately. An effective PR crisis response must operate on a new wave length and keep its actions ahead of the technology curve.
Meeting the Challenges of a New Era of Communication
If you think about how we get our news today, you realize that hardly anyone waits for the nightly news to find out about a breaking story. Now, people can switch on CNN or log on to the Internet as often as they like for the latest updates. What does this mean to the PR professional? It means that cyberspace has created a new imperative for crisis preparedness and management.
As a regular HPRMN columnist for the past 18 months, I have tried to avoid promoting my firm's products and services, but I am so excited about a new crisis management tool we have developed that, in this case, I have to make an exception.
Called "Edelman CPR" (Crisis Preparedness Response), the program takes crisis management into the cyberspace dimension and provides a perspective for your audiences that could never have been provided in the past.
Edelman CPR keeps corporations ahead of the game by:
- using the tools of our "instant information age," in particular, the Internet, to proactively deliver key messages to both internal and external audiences;
- featuring a real-time Web site, as well as one or more password-protected intranet sites that are continuously updated with revised crisis information.
Keeping Up With The Times
We have learned to use the Internet to participate in every news cycle, by creating a unique "news channel" for a client that responds to the demand for immediate news. This allows you to provide real-time information and perspective to your publics through the entire crisis lifecycle.
For example, let's say that you work for a hospital, and a former patient has sued the hospital for creating an unsafe environment, after allegedly having been assaulted by a hospital staff member. You prepare the hospital's president for an interview with a local TV station, and tape the interview with your own cameras, as well.
When the TV news segment runs, you are chagrined to see that it contains only a snippet of quote from the administrator, taken out of context.
The hospital sounds callous and incompetent, and the real story is distorted. But with Edelman CPR, the hospital can create an on-line news channel to broadcast the entire interview. Reporters - and the general public - can be drawn to the site through e-mails, registration with search engines, as well as advertisements. Suddenly, the media and the public have access to "the whole story" - and you've taken control of the message.
Depending on your particular crisis, you also can link your news channel to important third-party Web sites that can lend a credible viewpoint to your situation. And you can update the news channel as often as necessary, which costs you little but adds immeasurable value for your audiences.
How Do You Want to be Remembered?
Political scientists have taught us that great leaders are those who performed well in a time of crisis.
Recently, political expert Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. revisited his father's treatise that evaluated the "greatness" of the U.S. presidents. Both father and son named Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln as the country's two greatest presidents. What did these presidents have in common? Each led the nation successfully through a crisis - namely, a war.
The lesson here is that a time of crisis can present an immense opportunity for a person - or a company or a client - to shine. Guiding your organization through such a critical time with a state-of-the-art crisis management approach can spell greatness not only for your client, but also for you.