Crisis Insider

Like many social media platforms, Facebook is no stranger to reputation crises. How Facebook and other companies have managed them offers lessons in how to (and not to) address stakeholder concerns and shore up reputation when the proverbial excrement has collided with the rotating blades.

We provide a book review of Evan Nierman’s new book., which contains mostly standard crisis advice, though the novelty is whom he’s attempting to reach and how his insights are presented. This book’s main beneficiaries are owners of small businesses, with limited or no background in PR or media relations.

This month, we discuss in-crisis moments, after you’ve determined you’re in a crisis. Our dialoguers are veteran communicators and authors Eric Dezenhall, co-founder and president of DC-based Dezenhall Resources, and Chris Rosica, president of Rosica Communications of NJ. Both whack at a few sacred cows in this dialogue.

In this month’s issue, we explain Green Steel and Information Aversion.

You thought the last few years were challenging for crisis communication? Sure, we had a global pandemic and massive political upheaval. Disinformation and truth distortions reached record levels. Don’t forget the unprecedented changes to our planet. But, you haven’t seen anything like what awaits us in 2022.

Clearly, PR pros should update crisis communication plans to assure that weather and natural disasters are considered more likely, even in unlikely regions and at unexpected times of year. For organizations that lack a disaster communication or operation plan, there are free resources online that make planning much easier.

While a few crises never seem to end, often with good reason, companies and organizations eventually need to return to relatively normal footing. That’s when a priority for communicators is helping regain external and internal trust.

How has this moment influenced crisis, if at all? What crises can we expect to see in the next few months? We asked Justine Griffin, principal, Rasky Partners and Edward Segal, author, Forbes columnist and principal, Edward Segal Communications.

While fans, management and owners of the second-highest-rated syndicated game show knew Trebek’s time was short, his off-the-charts ability to live and work for months with pancreatic cancer might have provided a false sense of security. That’s one way to explain a series of fumbles and flip-flops, including one last week, to name Trebek’s permanent successor.

A national food distributor discovers potential contamination. The company initiates a recall. David Ball of Ball Consulting Group explains what happens next.