Crisis Management

By now, nearly everyone in Washington, D.C., has heard about the seemingly damaging article in this morning’s Politico. Former DNC chair Donna Brazile writes that she has solid proof that the Hillary Clinton campaign rigged the party’s nomination. The question for PR pros, of course, is what advice would you offer to Hillary Clinton now? Should she contest the article, hold a press conference, release a statement or remain silent?

You hear it often: PR pros and journalists are linked; they’re part of the same ecosystem. If so, PR pros and journalists have to be hanging their heads a bit lower today. This page pointed… Continued

I haven’t heard Christmas tunes in the shops of New York yet, but any minute they’ll be cranking them out. Once I hear that first awful new version of Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” everything’s… Continued

Spacey was accused of a forceful sexual advance by actor Anthony Rapp, who was 14 at the time. Halperin was accused by 12 women of sexual assault and harassment during his tenure as political director at ABC News. Their statements differ in some very important ways.

That idea you have, which everyone is calling crazy and couldn’t possibly work: well, it probably won’t work. But you should try it anyway. Such was the advice of Guy Kawasaki (pictured), venture capitalist and… Continued

In what he promises will be the final installment of his series on how watching the political scene can provide PR pros with a free, crash-course on crisis management, Arthur Solomon emphasizes the importance of telling the truth. While it might not help you keep your job, telling the truth about a situation or a person can keep you out of costly legal jeopardy, he argues.

It was the kind of irony that you see in B movies, but in this case it was true. The skies opened up over Boston last Monday and unleashed a downfall of rain. By 5… Continued

One of the most uncomfortable sessions during the recent PRSA International Conference last week was a breakout about losing control of your brand’s social media account. Fortunately there are steps communicators can take to help avoid such situations, although many of the tactics sound similar to those used in crisis management. Yet how many brands are prepared for a crisis? Does your brand have an updated crisis plan and conduct regular crisis exercises?

The insidious nature of the Harvey Weinstein situation has become clear. Not only have the alleged inappropriate actions of Mr. Weinstein caused the apparent downfall of one of Hollywood’s top producers, the scandal also has touched the company he co-founded as well as NBC News, the Clinton Foundation and Amazon. James Corden, Woody Allen, Mayim Bialik and Al Michaels also were caught in the thicket. Can communicators do anything in situations like these when the boss and founder of a company is alleged to be a deviant?

When Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg took a trip to DC last week to assure politicians that Facebook was taking serious the claims about Russian meddling in our elections, it was referred to as a “PR Blitz”… Continued