Marina Ein, the high-profile spokeswoman hired by Rep. Gary Condit, has suffered her own share of negative fall-out from the Chandra Levy case. Ein has been broadly criticized
for not bringing Condit forward to discuss his situation publicly.
Ironically, according to reports from the Modesto Bee and FOX News, Ein has never met her controversial client face to face.
PR NEWS pondered the wisdom and effectiveness of remote crisis counseling and turned to our crisis consultants for their opinion. The following feedback comes from our panel of
experts, slated to speak at the PR NEWS PR Strategies Forum in Washington, DC, September 20-21: Rene Henry, director of the office of communications and government relations,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Jim Lukaszewski, principal, the Lukaszewski Group; Larry Moskowitz, CEO, Medialink; Larry Smith, president, The Institute for Crisis
Management.
PRN: Do crisis counselors often consent to manage crisis communications
for a client they've never met?
Henry: I can't believe Marina Ein has never met the congressman. I would
never handle a crisis situation without having complete access to Condit and
his attorney. If you can't have direct access to your client in a crisis situation,
you can't do your job. The CEO or other advisers and staff members need to be
part of the strategy team with the lawyer and PR counsel.
Lukaszewski: In my practice, about 25% of my clients have never met
me. Distance, urgency, economy and need all worked to make face to face visits
impossible.
Moskowitz: While unusual, it is not unheard of for a PR representative
never to have actually met the client face-to-face. In this instance, however,
where the PR person is acting - at least in part - as a defensive wall protecting
a politician, it is odd Ein has not met her high-profile client.
Smith: It is not uncommon in crisis situations for a crisis consultant
to get a frantic telephone call and begin working with a client before a face-to-face
meeting. We've done a couple of major crisis projects without meeting the client.
But we spent hours on the phone and on conference calls and exchanging emails
and documents. It is very helpful to work with clients in person, but sometimes
their financial limitations or urgency limit face to face work.
PRN: Do you fault Ein and/or Condit's other representatives for the way
the situation is playing itself out?
Henry: Condit made several disastrous mistakes right at the beginning.
You want to get all the bad news out immediately. He didn't.
His spokespersons weren't telling the truth when they denied he had sex [with Levy]. Either they are living in La La Land, or are just not that intelligent to believe the
story wouldn't come out sooner or later. Condit also has not taken responsibility or shown compassion.
I also disagree with the way Ein has tried to shift and direct blame to the victim, in substance accusing [Levy] of sleeping around.
Lukaszewski: The real questions are: What does [Condit] know and how
long has he known it? What did he do and why did he do it? What should he have
said and when should this have happened?
These questions far overshadow who speaks for or instead of the congressman. He should, in fact, make most of the information known himself.
The most important connections elected officials have with their constituents are through the news media. Change that equation without constituent consent and you risk ending
your political career.
Moskowitz: I can only assume [Ein] is being used as a buffer between
Condit and the press, as he has yet to make any public statements himself. The
only justifiable role in an instance like this would be [using the spokesperson]
as a media traffic cop - to direct inquiries to the appropriate authorities
and individuals, including the congressman. If this were, indeed, the public
relations role, it would need to be very clearly and very publicly defined.
There may be another, darker reason for Ein never to have met Condit. Condit's advisors may feel Ein's access to Condit could make her privy to critical information and put her
in a position forced to reveal information about Condit not relating to the Levy situation but equally damaging to his political career.
Smith: I can't imagine not meeting with him eyeball to eyeball.
Rod Irvin, director of communications, planning and strategy for Eastman Chemical, will also appear on the crisis management panel, "Developing and Deploying Your Battle Plan,"
on September 20. For more information or to register for the PR Strategies Forum, visit http://www.PRandMarketing.com/seminars/prsf.
(Contacts: Rene Henry, [email protected]; Jim Lukaszewski, [email protected]; Larry
Moskowitz: [email protected]; Larry Smith: [email protected])