During a crisis, the stream of negative news can often overwhelming. Besides trying to get the company's side of the story out to "frame" the crisis, I also believe that the company can do more to manage the situation.
An excellent example occurred during the Fort Hood Shooting I wrote about in my research paper. In that crisis, quite soon after the shooting, stories started to emerge about the bravery of the soldiers and police officers responding to the crisis.
While I cannot confirm that PR Professionals were behind these stories, but Sgt. Kimberly Munley became the hero of the day. Once the media picked up on this new story angle, stories about Sgt Munley added some needed balance to the otherwise predominantly negative news about a crisis.
In short, as a Crisis Communicator, we can do more and we must be on the look out for and, where available, push out positive stories during a crisis. This, I term, regaining the information initiative.
An excellent example occurred during the Fort Hood Shooting I wrote about in my research paper. In that crisis, quite soon after the shooting, stories started to emerge about the bravery of the soldiers and police officers responding to the crisis.
While I cannot confirm that PR Professionals were behind these stories, but Sgt. Kimberly Munley became the hero of the day. Once the media picked up on this new story angle, stories about Sgt Munley added some needed balance to the otherwise predominantly negative news about a crisis.
In short, as a Crisis Communicator, we can do more and we must be on the look out for and, where available, push out positive stories during a crisis. This, I term, regaining the information initiative.
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