It was around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 29, that news started to spread throughout the media that Lachlan Murdoch had abruptly quit as deputy COOof his father Rupert Murdoch's
News Corp., sparking rampant speculation on who might eventually take charge of one of the globe's most powerful media conglomerates once pere Murdoch departs from the
scene. (Editor's note: The Saturday after the News Corp. story broke, beneath the fold on the front page of the New York Times ran a less-than-flattering story about
how Lachlan Murdoch's resignation could cause disarray in the organization's succession plans; since then, he reportedly has been named a consultant to the media giant.)
The decision to release the information right before the close of business on a Friday was in keeping with corporate America's compulsion to mitigate any blowback from bad
news by reporting it at the very end of the workweek. That sort of thinking may have worked 10 years ago, before the 24/7 news cycle and before most people had access to the
Internet on their desktops and, increasingly, in the palms of their hands (see PR News, Nov. 3, 2004), but times have changed. Nevertheless, nearly 60% of PR pros
responding to a recent PR News/Medialink survey said they prefer to release bad news -- a crisis, layoffs, or poor earnings, for example -- on a Friday.
"With blogs and the Internet, whom are we kidding?" says Michael Lasky, a partner in at the law firm Davis & Gilbert LLP (New York City) who chairs the firm's
public-relations law practice. "[But] they [companies] know that fewer people are going to pay attention to Saturday papers than they do to Friday papers, and that fewer people
are going to watch 'Weekend Today' on Saturday than 'Today' on Friday. It gives PR execs the weekend to deal with the coverage and gives them a little rebound time."
With the first 24 hours of a crisis usually setting the overall tone for the company in question, taking two days to craft an initial response to the media (and to
shareholders) could make a bad situation worse, never mind the weekend. "Things could spiral out of control very quickly," says Jeff Sindone, VP/senior counselor for Medialink
Strategic Consultants (New York City). "Because information is so readily available, you have to have a response ready before the crisis hits. That should definitely be in
your playbook."
The PR News/Medialink "PR's Role During A Crisis" survey, conducted in July, garnered approximately 800 responses among PR News subscribers. While progress has
been made in terms in terms of when PR reps are brought into a crisis, the survey also indicates that marcom execs are still behind the curve when it comes to educating themselves
on the particular legal issues surrounding crises that impacts their market. It's one thing to know about a crisis the same time as senior management, but it's another thing to
provide the kind of counsel that's going to effectively cauterize any damage (see table).
Regardless of how swift the response, PR reps are learning that, during a crisis, saying "no comment" to the media is a non-starter. "It's not just moving away from 'no
comment,' it's knowing how to respond to the variety of media. That could mean text for print, video for broadcast, audio for radio or some sort of combination of all three for
the Internet," adds Sindone. "It's critical to package your response and know how to distribute it to all the different media."
"In the wake of Enron, other high-profile corporate scandals, and the Food and Drug Administration investigations, no PR manager should be pleased at a survey
that reports 60% of communication pros are 'mildly educated' on legal issues," Lasky says. "And since many respondents tend to overestimate their knowledge base, the reality is
that the 60% are probably closer to 'uneducated' about legal issues."
Lasky stresses that PR pros need to disabuse themselves of the notion that what is said to the media -- particularly during the heat of a crisis -- is protected by the First
Amendment. "That's wrong," he says. "Much, if not most, of what they say is commercial speech, which means it can be heavily regulated. The First Amendment doesn't provide a 'safe
harbor.'"
He pointed to a "significant PR firm" that acknowledged recently that senior PR pros -- both at the agency and corporate levels -- need a good deal more education about the
regulatory environment in order to provide more value to their clients for, say, marketing strategies, product launches and the healthcare landscape. [PR] reps "have been too
reactive and need to know what other marketing communication disciplines have known for years, which is that you have to have a process to vet and substantiate claims that are
made on behalf of the client to avoid liability for both themselves and the client" he says. "It's the old adage: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Contacts: Michael Lasky, 212.468.4849, [email protected]; Jeff Sindone, 212.812.7152, [email protected]
1. At what point are you, the PR professional, brought into a crisis in your organization?
After senior management has discussed the crisis and developed a plan: 17%
After the media gets wind of the crisis: 14%
At the same time senior management learns of the crisis: 42%
Before legal counsel is involved: 16%
Way after legal counsel is involved: 11%
2. How educated do you feel you are about the particular legal issues surrounding a crisis?
Very Educated: 29%
Mildly Educated: 60%
Uneducated: 11%
3. During a crisis, how do you feel about the statement "No Comment" when dealing with the media?
I think it should never be uttered during a crisis: 78%
There are times when that's appropriate to say: 21%
In any crisis, it's a good way to keep out of more trouble: 1%
4. When announcing "bad news" about your organization or client (crisis, layoffs, poor earnings), what day of the week do you prefer to release this news?
Sunday: 1%
Monday: 9%
Tuesday: 6%
Wednesday: 7%
Thursday: 16%
Friday: 58%
Saturday: 3%