PR NEWS discusses Chandra Levy's disappearance with Lanny Davis, partner
at DC law firm Patton Boggs and former Special Counsel to President Clinton.
Davis, author of Truth to Tell: Tell It Early, Tell It All, Tell It Yourself:
Notes from My White House Education, specializes in legal crisis management.
He will present the keynote address at the PR Strategies Forum, September 20-21
in Washington, DC.
PRN: PR pundits have been critical of how Condit's team has handled him.
Where have they gone astray?
Davis: First of all, if he has any criminal exposure, he's doing the
right thing, according to his lawyer. He's not doing the right thing, morally,
because a young woman is missing and her parents are grieving. But if he's innocent,
I can conceive of no rationale, PR or moral, as to what he's doing. He clearly
impeded the investigation when he didn't tell the truth, immediately, about
his private relationship with Levy. Even if you can excuse that [by saying he
was protecting his wife] what's his excuse now, when his wife knows? What's
his excuse for not telling the public everything he can about Chandra's comings
and goings in the weeks before her disappearance? That's extremely important
in the investigation of a missing person.
PRN: If you were Condit's PR agent (Marina Ein), what would you do differently?
Davis: She should call a press conference and she should open it saying,
'Mr. Condit is terribly sorry he wasn't more honest and forthcoming. His reason
is that he was embarrassed and hoping Miss Levy would show up and he wouldn't
have to disclose their relationship. Now he is worried about her safety, and
his embarrassment and his right to privacy are not important.' He apologizes
to Miss Levy's parents, to his constituents, to the DC police and to everyone
else. Condit should then stand up in front of the room -- filled with every
feeding-frenzy journalist alive -- and say, 'I'm not going to leave this room
until every question has been answered.'
PRN: If Condit were to be perfectly honest with the press and the public,
could he salvage his reputation?
Davis: If he is completely innocent and his apology was sincere, his
reputation might be salvaged. The next morning, he would no longer be seen as
hiding, but as hounded.
PRN: What about the Levy family's PR machine? Has Porter Novelli misstepped
in managing their media relations?
Davis: The only mistake they made was getting into the landscaper's
daughter. I don't think she's relevant. The Washington Post fell for it. The
press [and Porter Novelli] can make the mistake of pushing too hard. The fact
that the guy is a philanderer isn't relevant unless the women can report he
was violent. I thought that was an outrage.