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Crisis Communications

Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach presents case studies of organizational, corporate, and individual crises, and analyzes the commun - ication responses to these situations. Demonstrating how professionals prepare for and respond to crises, as well as how they develop com - munications plans, this essential text explores crucial issues concerning communication with the news media, employees, and consumers in times of crisis.

Author Kathleen Fearn-Banks examines the steps of choosing the appro priate words to convey a message, selecting the method and channels for delivering the message, and identifying and targeting the most appro - priate publics or audiences. She also addresses such important topics as avoiding potential mismanagement of communication in crisis situations.

Key features of this fourth edition are:

• Six new cases, including several international crises; • Current discussion of communications technology as it relates to

crises; and • A companion website with additional cases as well as supplemental

materials for students and classroom resources for instructors. Please visit www.routledge.com/textbooks/fearn-banks.

A Student Workbook is also available for use with this volume, providing additional pedagogy for each chapter, including discussion questions, activities, key terms, case exercises, and worksheets.

Utilizing both classic and contemporary cases of real-world situations, Crisis Communications provides students in public relations and business with real-world perspectives and valuable insights for professional responses to crises. It is intended for use in crisis communications, crisis management, and PR case studies courses.

Kathleen Fearn-Banks is Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington.

Communication Series Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors

Selected Titles in Public Relations (James E. Grunig, advisory editor) include:

Austin/Pinkleton Strategic Public Relations Management: Planning and Managing Effective Communication Programs, Second Edition

Berger/Reber Gaining Influence in Public Relations: The Role of Resistance in Practice

Botan/Hazleton Public Relations Theory II

Hearit Crisis Management by Apology: Corporate Response to Allegations of Wrongdoing

McKee/Lamb Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management, Second Edition

Crisis Communications

A Casebook Approach Fourth Edition

Kathleen Fearn-Banks University of Washington

First edition published 1996 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Second edition 2001 Third edition 2007

This edition published 2011 by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2011 Taylor & Francis

The right of Kathleen Fearn-Banks to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Fearn-Banks, Kathleen.

Crisis communications: a casebook approach/Kathleen Fearn-Banks— 4th ed.

p. cm. Includes index. 1. Public relations—Management—Case studies. 2. Crisis

management—Case studies. 3. Advertising—Case studies. I. Title. HD59.F37 2010 659.2—dc22 2010014680

ISBN 13: 978–0–415–88058–9 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978–0–415–88059–6 (pbk) ISBN 13: 978–0–203–84952–1 (ebk)

ISBN 0-203-84952-3 Master e-book ISBN

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

Brief Contents

Preface x

1 Crisis Communications Today 1

2 Crisis Communications Theory 16

3 Communications to Prevent Crises 27

4 Communications When the Crisis Strikes 33

5 Social Media and Crisis Communications 55

6 Rumors and Cybercrises 63

7 “Textbook” Crises 90

8 Culture Crises: Foreign and Domestic 110

9 Environmental Crisis 161

10 Natural Disasters 176

11 Transportation Crises 215

12 Product Failure and Product Tampering 236

13 Death and Injury 260

14 Individuals in Crises 291

15 The Crisis Communications Plan 301

Appendix A Generic Crisis Communications Plan for a Large Company 320

Appendix B Crisis Communications Plan for Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission 340

Appendix C Crisis Communications Plan for a Fictitious Small Business 347

Sources 366 Index 377

vi Brief Contents

Full Contents

Preface x

1 Crisis Communications Today 1

What is a Crisis and What is Crisis Communications? 2 The Five Stages of a Crisis 4 Public Opinion 9 Mini-Case: White Star Line’s Titanic Sinks 10

2 Crisis Communications Theory 16

Apologia Theory 16 Image Restoration Theory 18 Decision Theory 19 Diffusion Theory 19 Excellence Theory 20 Summary 26

3 Communications to Prevent Crises 27

The News Media 27 Internal Publics 28 Customers/Consumers 30

4 Communications When the Crisis Strikes 33

Communicating with the News Media 34 Communicating with Lawyers 44 Communicating with Internal Publics 47 Communicating with External Publics 49 Communicating Directly with the Masses 50

5 Social Media and Crisis Communications 55

6 Rumors and Cybercrises 63

Word-of-Mouth Rumors, E-mail Rumors, Rogue Websites, and Blogs 64

The Nature of Rumors 64 How Rumors Start 65 Mini-Case: Procter & Gamble and the Satanism Rumor 66 Case: Snapps Restaurant and the AIDS Rumor 66 Types of Rumor 72 How Rumors Spread 75 Detecting a Rumor and Preventing its Spread 75 Fighting the Rumor 77 Social Media Rumors 78 Battling Online Rumors 79 Mini-Case: Microsoft Fights Fake E-Mailed News Release 81 Mini-Case: The Killer Banana Rumor 82 Rogue Websites 82 How Do Companies Prevent Rogue Websites? 84 What to Do After an Attack Site Is Up 85 Mini-Case: Alaska Airlines and the Good and Bad News

Websites 86 Mini-Case: Dunkin’ Donuts Adopts a Rogue Website 87 Mini-Case: America Online and a “Sucks” Site 88 Blogs 89 Conclusion 89

7 “Textbook” Crises 90

Case: Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol Murders 90 Case: Exxon and the Valdez Oil Spill 101

8 Culture Crises: Foreign and Domestic 110

Case: Saginaw Valley State University and the Theater Controversy 110

Case: AIDS in Africa 116 Case: Texas A&M University and the Bonfire Tragedy 145

9 Environmental Crisis 161

Case: Häagen-Dazs and Honey Bees 161

10 Natural Disasters 176

Case: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans 176

viii Full Contents

11 Transportation Crises 215

Case: Holland America Line and Cruise Crises 215 Case: US Airways and the Emergency Landing in the Hudson 226

12 Product Failure and Product Tampering 236

Case: Yuhan-Kimberly and Baby Wet Wipes 236 Case: Maple Leaf Foods and the Battle against Listeria 243 Case: Wendy’s and the Finger-in-the-Chili Hoax 252 Mini-Case: Domino’s Pizza 258

13 Death and Injury 260

Case: Columbine High School and the Shooting Tragedy 260 Case: Metro Transit: Driver Shot, Bus Flies Off a Bridge 275

14 Individuals in Crises 291

The Public Person 293 Publicist or Lawyer? 294 Apologies 294 Talk or Keep Silent? 297 Responding to a Scandal 298

15 The Crisis Communications Plan 301

Crisis Inventory 301 Developing the Crisis Communications Plan 306

Appendix A: 320 Generic Crisis Communications Plan for a Large Company

Appendix B: 340 Crisis Communications Plan for Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission

Appendix C: 347 Crisis Communications Plan for a Fictitious Small Business

Sources 366 Index 377

Full Contents ix

Preface

This, the fourth edition of Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, like the previous editions, is concerned with how organizations, compa- nies, and individuals cope with the communications aspect of crisis management. How do they, or should they, communicate with the news media, employees, and consumers? They must choose the best possible words to convey their message, the best possible method of delivering the message, and the precise and most appropriate public(s) or audience(s). There are obviously many more methods of communications as time passes; this makes the choices of methods challenging. However, the ideals and principles remain—doing what is fair and honest.

Six new case studies are included in this volume. “Häagen-Dazs and Honey Bees” is about the worldwide disappearance of honey bees, the foods and food products we will be without unless something is done, and the work that the ice cream manufacturer Häagen-Dazs is doing to help propel the study that will, hopefully, find a solution. “Holland America Line and Cruise Crises” shows us how limitless the kinds and numbers of crises one organization may endure are. “Saginaw Valley State University and the Theater Controversy” centers on a Michigan university’s fight to serve its students and teach others about tolerance. “US Airways and the Emergency Landing in the Hudson” is the familiar crisis from the unfamiliar point of view of the communication team at US Airways. “Yuhan-Kimberly and Baby Wet Wipes” is one of two additional crises outside of the U.S., and it is about how the Korean- based company used communications when consumers perceived one of their products as harmful to infants.

The other crisis originating outside the U.S. is from Canada; “Maple Leaf Foods and the Battle against Listeria” centers on how that company took the high road when consumers became ill and died from their products laden with the bacteria. There is a chapter, “Social Media and Crisis Communications,” on the newest technology rage and a chapter, “Individuals in Crisis,” on what public individuals do and should do when involved in scandal. A chapter on how to develop a crisis communications

plan remains, updated to include social media. There are three crisis communications plans in the appendices and all have been revised to include the new technology. Two are generic—the large company and the small business—and the third is an actual crisis campaign plan for a nonprofit, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.

Four case studies have been removed from the print edition and can now be accessed on the website, www.routledge.com/textbooks/fearn- banks. Most remaining chapters and case studies have been updated.

Acknowledgments

I thank the crisis communicators and their staff members who helped provide me with the information for the case studies. At Yuhan-Kimberly in Seoul, Korea, the assistance was provided by S. W. Son, E. W. Lee, Y. I. Kim, K. H. Kang, J. W. Shin, K. S. Cho, J. W. Lee, J. W. Leekim. Dr. Yang-ho Choi of Chosun University introduced me to the crisis at Yuhan- Kimberly. My former student, Boram Park, also assisted in translating from Korean. For Maple Leaf Foods in Toronto, I was assisted by Linda Kuhn, Jeannette Jones, and Linda Smith. Häagen-Dazs simply asked to be recognized as “The Häagen-Dazs Brand team.” For Saginaw Valley State University, I was assisted by Eric Peterson, J. J. Boehm, and Gene Hamilton as well as Justin Engel and Janet Martineau of the Saginaw News.

Erik Elvejord and Michael Versteeg at Holland America Line found time to help despite their work schedules.

Sister Mary Lou Specha, PBVM, of Reconcile New Orleans kept me apprised of the progress of the youths she serves. Kathy Gill of the University of Washington’s Master’s Degree in Digital Media program and Ron Schott of Spring Creek Group were my social media experts. Henry Marsh, Ruth Marsh, and Osie Thornton, Jr. in Michigan, Gerald Brown in Los Angeles, Agnes Marsh in Louisville, and Elva Miller in Blacksburg, Virginia, sent me information and material. Gina Arnold was my artist.

I thank Sharon Thomas-Hearns and Jeff Lilley at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission for permitting us to publish their crisis communications plan.

Very helpful University of Washington student researchers were Zach Buck, James Tosch, Katie McElroy, Rachel Huntsberger, Kristin Marie Scheidegger, Amina Saleh, M. S. Erickson, and students in COM 452 Crisis Communications. The Department of Communication’s reference librarian Jessica Albano is indispensable to students and to me. Staff members Patricia Humphrey and Robin Brooks helped organize the cases. Kristina Bowman, Nika Pelc, and her staff of computer support specialists are always helpful.

Professor Albert Sampson of Argosy University has been an excellent, dutiful proofreader for all four editions. I thank him and also Routledge editor Linda Bathgate who has been supportive from the beginning.

Preface xi

Crisis Communications Today

People who pick up a book on crisis communications are aware of social media. Perhaps they do not use them or use them only socially. Perhaps, they don’t know how to use them or don’t know if they should use them. However, they are aware that social media exist and are major communications tools in the second decade of the 21st century.

Between the date this book goes to press and the date it is in book stores there will undoubtedly be new networks and usages of social media. Many experienced crisis communicators are exploring, developing, and learning how best to use social media. Chapter 5, “Social Media and Crisis Communications” of this textbook addresses how organizations and companies have used Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, and other social media to cope with crises. The chapter includes advice on using social media and cites some crises caused by the use of social media.

Crisis communications demands that one uses the best crafted message delivered by the most effective method to the precise public (audience). This has not changed. What has changed is the fact that social media make it possible for faster communication than traditional methods and to a very precise, often chosen, public. Whereas we used to have a “golden hour” to disseminate crucial information about a crisis, now we have a “golden few minutes” before publics expect information. The message still needs to be carefully written—mistakes on social media can live forever—but social media encourage rapid and frequent two-way communication between an organization and its segmented publics, without a gatekeeper. Social media can build positive relationships with these publics.

So what the new technology has done is present new methods of com- municating faster, possibly better and possibly not. It has not eliminated the need for traditional methods. And it has not changed the facts of human behavior—ethical and professional standards, the basic tenets of crisis communications.

Chapter One

What is a Crisis and What is Crisis Communications?

A crisis is a major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting the organization, company, or industry, as well as its publics, products, services, or good name. A crisis interrupts normal business transactions and can sometimes threaten the existence of the organization. A crisis can be a strike, terrorism, a fire, a boycott, product tampering, product failure, or numerous other events (see the list in Chapter 15, p. 308). The size of the organization is irrelevant. It can be a multi- national corporation, a one-person business, or even an individual.

Public relations (PR) professionals often say, “I have a crisis every day.” This is an exaggeration, of course. The term crisis denotes something more serious than a “problem.” Public relations people deal with problems— solving them or avoiding them. By definition, however, a crisis interrupts the normal flow of business, so a crisis cannot be a normal part of this flow.

On the other hand, a crisis is not necessarily so catastrophic that the life of the organization is destroyed. Exxon suffered the crisis of crises after its oil spill in 1989. It still suffers from a bad image, but it continues to thrive in business. (See the Exxon case in Chapter 7.)

This book advises you to plan for the worst that can happen, whether it be a crisis or a problem, and it brings us to another expression: “Be prepared.” This book shows you how to prepare yourself and your organization to cope with crises that may occur. It deals with preparations made far in advance, as well as with strategies and tactics to be used during a crisis. It examines the experiences of public relations profes- sionals in crises, describing what they did, what they wished they had done, and what hampered their progress. You can learn from their successes and failures.

In a crisis, in contrast to a problem, emotions are on edge, brains are not fully functioning, and events are occurring so rapidly that drafting a plan during a crisis is unthinkable. Simply following one is difficult.

Crisis management is a process of strategic planning for a crisis or negative turning point, a process that removes some of the risk and uncer - tainty from the negative occurrence and thereby allows the organization to be in greater control of its own destiny.

Crisis communications is the dialog between the organization and its public(s) prior to, during, and after the negative occurrence. The dialog details strategies and tactics designed to minimize damage to the image of the organization.

Effective crisis management includes crisis communications that not only can alleviate or eliminate the crisis but also can sometimes bring the organization a more positive reputation than it had before the crisis.

2 Crisis Communications Today

Public relations deals with publics. Publics are the specific audiences targeted by programs. People frequently use the term “general public,” but public relations professionals are usually more specific in their targeting. Examples of corporate publics include the following: employees; customers; stockholders; community members; board members; unions; and retirees.

Proactive public relations programs can be used to build relationships with certain publics. They can prevent crises; they can also make these publics supportive when there is a crisis. Trust is at the heart of each type of public relations.

These programs might be the following:

• Media relations: Building a positive relationship with the news media so they know you are reliable, professional, accurate, and ethical. Tactics for the news media would include not only news releases but also pitch letters, backgrounders, media advisories, media tours, news conferences, and others.

• Community relations: Building a positive relationship with commun - ity leaders, organizations, families, individuals. Tactics may include advisory boards, open houses, speakers’ bureaus, public service announcements, CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities, ex - hibits, scholarships.

• Employee/internal relations: Building a bond with employees even if there are only one or two, making employees feel a part of the organization. These would be volunteers in nonprofit organizations. Tactics would be the use of an intranet, newsletters, and other house organs, closed circuit television, e-mail and other social media, contests, awards, gifts.

• Consumer relations: Building a mutual bond between the company and its customers. A returns policy, tours, sales advantages, bro - chures, posters/flyers, open houses, educational material, and a complaint system are possibilities.

There can also be programs for government relations, labor relations, international relations, investor relations, and others. An organization depends on these publics for survival because they have some stake in the organization.

Public relations is concerned with reputation. It exists to avoid a negative image and to create or enhance a positive reputation. It is largely the fear of a negative image that causes organizations to develop public relations departments, hire public relations agencies, or both. Too often, an organization does not consider utilizing public relations until it is in a crisis. Then it wants a speedy recovery.

Crisis Communications Today 3

Research shows that companies with ongoing two-way communica- tions often avoid crises or endure crises of shorter duration or of lesser magnitude (see Chapter 2, “Crisis Communications Theory”). Research also shows that companies with a crisis management and/or crisis com - munications plan come out of a crisis with a more positive image than companies without such a plan.

Whether an organization is a large multinational company or a small business, a crisis communications plan is needed. A crisis communications plan is preferably a part of a company-wide crisis management plan that includes sections on evacuation, work sites, equipment, and so on. If a company does not have a crisis management plan, a crisis communications plan is still advisable—even urgent.

The media to which you have tried unsuccessfully to pitch ideas for news stories, the media that toss “perfect” news releases in the trash, the media that never return phone calls—those media will call on you in a crisis. They will probably not telephone in advance. They will show up on your premises “in your face.” The media, seeing themselves as advocates for the people, can be the principal adversaries in a crisis.

This is a time when public relations takes front and center—in a very crucial way. This is not to say that public relations will operate independently—that might be a greater disaster. It is a time, however, when the CEO (chief executive) may listen to the PR pro whose name he can never remember.

Sometimes, even in a crisis, the head of the company or organiza- tion does not listen because business schools often teach CEOs to make their own decisions. There are many documented cases of disasters during which CEOs acted independently. The Exxon crisis is an example. Exxon’s CEO, Lawrence Rawl, did not respond as the media and envir - onmentalists would have preferred. He did not accept responsibility as rapidly as critics felt he should have. He did not fly to Valdez to express concern. All the moves the public relations experts would advise, Rawl ignored. Rawl is not alone among corporate heads in his response, but the number of bad responses is declining as organizations learn the effects of public opinion.

In a crisis, when everyone else is in a state of panic, public relations practitioners must offer a calming presence: “This is not as bad as it seems,” or “This could be worse. We cannot turn crises into catastrophes. This is what we do . . .”

The Five Stages of a Crisis

A crisis has five stages:

1. Detection 2. Prevention/preparation

4 Crisis Communications Today

3. Containment 4. Recovery 5. Learning.

Detection

The detection phase may begin with noting warning signs, or what Barton (1993) referred to as prodromes or the prodromal stage. Some crises have no noticeable prodromes, but many do.

When an organization in the same business as yours suffers a crisis, it is a warning to your organization. The 1982 Tylenol tampering case was a prodrome to other manufacturers of over-the-counter drugs. Most companies heeded that warning and now use tamper-proof containers. Imagine how many crises were avoided by noticing that what happened to Tylenol could happen to other companies.

On the other hand, Johnson & Johnson itself had little warning before it was hit with this crisis. No one had ever before poisoned an over-the- counter painkiller; it was not a crisis Johnson & Johnson had anticipated. The only warning the company had was a phone call from a journalist from the Chicago Tribune, taken by a Johnson & Johnson public relations staff member. The journalist asked questions about the company’s holdings, the spelling of names, and so forth. The employee reported the call to supervisors, who called the newspaper and found out that there were deaths attributed to Tylenol (see Chapter 7, “Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol Murders”).

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a prodrome to other companies as well as Exxon itself. Oil companies now know better how to prevent spills, how to clean up spills, and how to react to the public after spills.

There are other less obvious prodromes. Employee discontent over any issue is a sign of a brewing crisis. Perhaps there is an increase in complaints about work hours, work conditions, or unreasonable supervisors. Any one of these and many more issues can be an early sign of a work stoppage. The same prodromes can be early signs of workplace violence.

An organization should watch for prodromes and make attempts to stop a crisis at this stage, before it develops into a full-blown crisis. To detect these early signs, organizations form employee committees that function like lighthouse keepers watching for vessels at sea, watchdogs, or whistle-blowers. These whistle-blowers report warning signs to organization officials who can implement plans to avoid the impending crisis or at least have time to prepare to address the media or other publics.

Crisis detection also refers to a system within the organization in which key personnel are immediately notified of a crisis. An organization has a considerable advantage if it knows about a crisis before its publics

Crisis Communications Today 5

do, especially before the news media get the tip. This gives the organiza- tion time to draft a statement, make preparations for a news conference, notify the crisis team, and call in spokespersons. As mentioned earlier, the phone call from a Chicago Tribune journalist gave Johnson & Johnson some lead time before the public knew about the Tylenol murders.

Crisis Prevention

Ongoing public relations programs and regular two-way communications build relationships with key publics and thereby prevent crises, lessen the blows of crises, or limit the duration of crises.

The establishment of a corporate culture conducive to the positive and open interaction of members also minimizes crises, as does including crisis management in the strategic planning process (see Chapter 2, “Crisis Communications Theory”).

There are other specific tactics and actions that an organization may adopt to prevent crises. These tactics must be communicated to appropriate publics. A company must not only do what is right. It also must tell its publics that it is taking appropriate action. This may appear to be bragging, but if the company does not reveal ethical and professional business practices, publics will never know. Crisis prevention tactics include the following:

1. Fostering the continued development of organizational policies that allow for updates and changes based on variances of publics and mission.

2. Reducing the use of hazardous material and processes. 3. Initiating safety training and providing rewards for employees with

stellar safety records. 4. Allowing the free flow of information from employees to management

with no punishment of employees who deliver bad news. 5. Following up on past crises or problems. 6. Attending community meetings. 7. Developing a community board with key outside members who are

public opinion leaders. 8. Circulating a newsletter to frequent consumers. 9. Offering scholarships to employees and their children as well as to

other children in the community. 10. Hosting community or employee picnics. 11. Sponsoring community activities, such as Little League teams and

charities.

In communications, diligence can sometimes prevent crises. A public relations executive in the Midwest tells of a telephone call from a West

6 Crisis Communications Today

Coast journalist at 5 p.m., just as she was leaving for the weekend. She could easily have refused the call, but she decided to take it. The reporter was preparing to write a story for a big-city newspaper about the failure of a product manufactured by the PR executive’s company. The story was one that could have sparked a full-scale crisis. The PR person took the time to locate information that proved the information to be baseless. The reporter was satisfied and the crisis that could have been was averted.

If all members of the management staff are trained to be media savvy, numerous crises can be prevented. Using the story above, the PR executive could have consulted a respected expert on the issue to refute the charges and nip them in the bud. Public relations personnel and key organizational leaders should always be aware of who these experts are and of how to reach them in emergencies. Prompt responses to media inquiries are also a plus.

Crisis Preparation

Crisis preparation is necessary for dealing with crises that cannot be prevented. Pepsi had no way of anticipating the scare in which hypodermic syringes were found in cans of Diet Pepsi. The presence of these syringes in the cans cried “AIDS,” and fear of the illness and death far surpassed brand loyalty.

The crisis communications plan is the primary tool of preparedness (see Chapter 15, “The Crisis Communications Plan”). This plan tells each key person on the crisis team what his or her role is, whom to notify, how to reach people, what to say, and so on. The crisis communications plan provides a functioning collective brain for all persons involved in a crisis, persons who may not operate at normal capacity due to the shock or emotions of the crisis event.

Containment

Containment refers to the effort to limit the duration of the crisis or to keep it from spreading to other areas affecting the organization.

Pepsi used an advertisement to end its crisis. After several hoaxes had been exposed without the discovery of one documented case of a syringe in a can after the original incident, the company decided the crisis was over and told the world so. And it was.

Foodmaker, parent company of the Jack-in-the-Box fast-food chain, was charged by PR critics with delaying the resolution of the E. coli crisis that killed several children and one adult in 1993 because the company did not take responsibility for the tainted meat soon enough. However, as long as people, especially children, were sick and dying, there was no way Foodmaker could curtail the crisis. It was contained to the Pacific

Crisis Communications Today 7

Northwest and did not affect all outlets of the chain, and Jack-in-the- Box communicated to consumers that other food products in the restaurants were not contaminated.

Recovery

Recovery involves efforts to return the company to business as usual. Organizations want to leave the crisis behind and restore normalcy as soon as possible. Recovery may also mean restoring the confidence of key publics, which means communicating a return to normal business.

Snapps, a fast-food restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, suffered from a rumor that one of its managers had AIDS and had infected hamburgers. To implement recovery, health department officials participated in a news conference telling the public that all managers had been tested, that none had the AIDS virus, and that the virus could not be transmitted through hamburgers (see Chapter 6, “Rumors and Cybercrises”).

Exxon attempted to recover from the Valdez oil spill by making efforts to persuade tourists that Alaska was still a beautiful place to visit. It is particularly interesting that Exxon looked beyond its own recovery to the way its crisis had affected the tourism industry.

Learning

The learning phase is a process of examining the crisis and determining what was lost, what was gained, and how the organization performed in the crisis. It is an evaluative procedure designed to make the crisis a prodrome for the future.

One might think that this is like closing the barn door after the cows have escaped. Any farmer will tell you that once the cows are back in the barn, they will escape again unless you close the door this time. The fact that a company has suffered one crisis is no indication that it will not happen again. Johnson & Johnson, after its second tampering crisis, learned its lesson by selling over-the-counter medications in tamper-proof containers. Other companies followed suit. Public relations personnel set about the task of telling the public about the new safety containers.

Another example of the learning phase is illustrated by the case of the U.S. airlines that were plagued with hijackings during the 1960s and 1970s. The airlines set up metal detectors at airports for persons boarding planes. The procedure was extended to cover employees after an irate employee boarded a plane with a gun, shot a supervisor, and caused a fatal crash. The airlines’ public relations personnel informed passengers of the new safety procedures.

The learning phase brings about change that helps prevent future crises.

8 Crisis Communications Today

Public Opinion

In a crisis, the public perceives truth to be whatever public opinion says. An organization in crisis must prove to its publics, and often to the general public, that the prevailing negative opinion is not factual. In contrast to a U.S. court of law where a person is innocent until proven guilty, in the court of public opinion, a person or organization is guilty until proven innocent.

Public opinion is difficult to define, but it is based on individuals’ atti - tudes toward specific issues. These attitudes are based on age, educational level, religion, country, state, city, neighborhood, family background and traditions, social class, and racial background. All of these help to form each individual’s attitudes, and a predominance of similar attitudes makes up public opinion.

On any given issue, people are in favor, against, neutral, or so dis - interested that they could not care less. Most people, unfortunately, fall into the last category. Public relations aims to reinforce positive attitudes, change negative attitudes, and provide information in a way that causes the unopinionated and neutral to form the opinion most conducive to the organization’s function.

An organization has no choice in accepting a crisis. A crisis is forced on it, and the organization must cope with it. Organizations can ignore a crisis and hope it will go away. Occasionally, it does. More often, it does not. A crisis ignored is an organization failing.

The essential role of crisis communications is to affect the public opinion process and to be instrumental in establishing and communicating proof that the prevailing “truth” is not factual or not wholly factual. Then explanations of how much is true must follow. If the organization is actually at fault, owning up to it is usually the best policy. The public is forgiving if measures are taken to prevent recurrence.

The news media are prime tools for changing public opinion. The media can reach the masses in a short period of time because most Americans utilize some form of the news media, primarily television. Radio is popular during prime traffic hours. Public relations experts are trained in knowing how to reach the media, when and how to call a news confer - ence, when and how to conduct one-on-one interviews, and when and how to disseminate written material.

Crisis communications, like public relations, is not merely the distribution of news releases. Nor is it only media relations. Frequently, community relations, consumer relations, employee relations, investor relations, government relations, and many other kinds of public relations are involved.

Crisis Communications Today 9

Mini-Case: White Star Line’s Titanic Sinks

To illustrate terms, let’s examine a well-known crisis: the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Titanic was one of several ships of the White Star Line, which had a primary rival, the Cunard Line. The Cunard Line had two famously fast ships—the Lusitania and the Mauritania. White Star decided not to compete with Cunard on speed but to surpass it, as far as public opinion was concerned, in size, elegance, sumptuousness, and safety.

The White Star Line planned to launch three ships—the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Gigantic, in that order. In the area of media relations, advance publicity praised the immensely luxurious ships. Postcards went out claiming the Titanic was “the largest moving object in the world.” A promotional brochure claimed the Olympic and the Titanic were “designed to be unsinkable” (Ziakas, 1999, p. 109). The trade journal The Shipbuilder bragged about the Titanic’s opulence—its grand staircase, its elevators, its Turkish baths, and, of course, its “unsinkable” construction.

Titanic personnel were chosen to appeal to a celebrated and wealthy clientele, the targeted public. Captain E. J. Smith, called the “millionaire’s captain,” was the highest-paid captain on the seas and a celebrity in his own right. The musicians were the tops in their field and could play a wide range of music. White Star felt it had thought of everything and had attained the highest form of customer relations.

Crisis management plans and crisis communications plans were believed to be unnecessary. After all, if the ship couldn’t sink, what could happen? There were medical facilities on board should any passengers suffer a heart attack or some other unforeseen illness. The ship had state- of-the-art communications equipment; if help was needed, personnel could radio other ships.

We’ve learned that it was always possible, though unlikely, that the ship would sink. A long gash in the hull was the worst case scenario, and that is exactly what happened. So, the non-planners were short- sighted. What about fires? Certainly the ship could burn. An adequate number of lifeboats would still be needed. In fact, a fire out of control on a ship could have been a worse disaster.

A crisis management plan would have detailed what would be done in the event of fire and other tragedies—how evacuation would take place, how practice drills would be conducted for the crew and possibly for passengers, who would lower the lifeboats, who would ensure that passengers were guided safely to the closest lifeboats and ships, who would contact persons ashore by radio, when crew members would save themselves, and so on. A crisis management plan would also have included making sure effective insurance policies were in place. In today’s

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crises, one must be sure that payrolls can be met; special insurances may be necessary to cover computers.

The crisis management plan would have included the crisis communi- cations plan. The crisis communications plan would have included notification of the home office, where personnel acting as public relations professionals would, in turn, notify the press, White Star Line executives and employees, and passengers’ relatives. These were also key publics. (The term public relations was not used at the time, although that management function has always been important to the success of any company or organization.)

The crisis communications plan would have also included details about who would be the spokesperson once the passengers were brought to safety. If Captain Smith had survived, he would have been the best spokesperson. As it was, Smith went down with the ship. However, the managing director of White Star, J. Bruce Ismay, was aboard, survived, and was rescued from a lifeboat sent from the Carpathia. Many felt he should have given his place on the lifeboat to a passenger. However, because he survived, he should have been the spokesperson. Instead, he hid in the luxurious quarters of the Carpathia‘s physician until the ship docked in New York, hoping to avoid the other survivors who huddled on floors and under tables.

There were two persons connected to White Star who participated in the media communications. Harold Bride, a radio operator on the Titanic who worked for Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, was among the passengers picked up by the Carpathia. He wrote a first-person account of the tragedy that he sent to the New York Times by wire from the rescue ship. Phillip A. S. Franklin, who had been hired to head White Star’s New York office, called together a kind of crisis communications team. This came after David Sarnoff, also a Marconi employee, heard the signal from the Olympic that the Titanic had run into an iceberg and was sinking fast; Sarnoff gave his story to the Associated Press. Franklin attempted to stop the Associated Press from running the story, saying that even though the ship had run into an iceberg, he had “absolute confidence in the Titanic. . . . We are not worried about the ship but we are sorry for the inconvenience of the passengers” (Ziakis, 1999, p. 116).

The morning before the sinking, the New York Times ran a story announcing that the “The New Giantess Titanic” would soon arrive in New York. The story was a PR person’s dream, a proactive story aimed primarily at a public of potential passengers and at educating and informing the general public, thereby assuring that when asked, “What is the biggest, most elegant ship afloat?” anyone would say, “The Titanic.” The Times story described the ship’s impressive size, luxury, and illustrious passengers aboard its maiden voyage.

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On April 15, White Star was in a reactive mode, as is almost always the case in a crisis. Presented with information from the Bride and Sarnoff stories, the New York Times ran a story with this headline:

NEW-LINER TITANIC HITS AN ICEBERG; SINKING BY THE BOW AT MIDNIGHT; WOMEN PUT OFF IN LIFEBOATS; LAST WIRELESS AT 12:27 A.M. BLURRED

A later New York Times headline read as follows:

TITANIC SINKS FOUR HOURS AFTER HITTING ICEBERG 866 RESCUED BY CARPATHIA, PROBABLY 1250 PERISH ISMAY SAFE, MRS. ASTOR MAYBE, NOTED NAMES MISSING

Other newspapers’ April 15 headlines indicated that the editors were much less aware of accurate details of the story. The New York Sun’s headline was “All Saved From Titanic After Collision.” The Washington Post apparently chose to believe the spokesperson for White Star, Franklin. The Post’s headline was the following:

TITANIC’S 1470 PASSENGERS ARE NOW BEING TRANSFERRED IN LIFEBOATS TO CUNARD LINE Twenty Boat Loads Have Already Been Transferred to the Catania, of the Cunard Line. . . . No Loss of Life is Feared. . . . Officials Confident Throughout Long Period of Suspense . . . Halifax Hears That Titanic is on Her Way to That Port.

(Note that newspapers made estimates of the numbers of passengers rescued and deceased in early coverage. Also, the Washington Post thought the rescue ship was Catania, not Carpathia.)

The Manchester Guardian, on April 16, wrote about the miscommu- nications of White Star. Newspapers love to write about corporate mistakes; it’s the stuff of which interesting articles are made. Under the headline “The Day’s Strange Reports in America,” the story was a timeline of every arrogant message from White Star’s Franklin and from other reports. One message from the Government Marine Agency in Halifax said that the Titanic was sinking, whereas a message from Franklin said that “all passengers are saved, and the Virginian is towing the Titanic towards Halifax” (Ziakas, 1999, p. 117).

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Franklin finally received a telegram confirming that the ship had sunk, and he later described his reactions:

. . . it was such a terrible shock that it took us a few minutes to get ourselves together. Then at once I telephoned, myself; two of our directors, Mr. Steele and Mr. Morgan, Jr. and at the same time went downstairs to the reporters. I got off the first line and a half where it said: “The Titanic sank at two o’clock a.m.” and there was not a reporter left in the room—they were so anxious to get out and telephone the news.

(Ziakas, 1999, p. 117)

At Pier 54 in New York harbor, the surviving passengers came ashore and were regarded as celebrities from that point on. An embarrassed and tearful Franklin went aboard Carpathia to meet with Ismay, who was in a state of mental and physical collapse. Ismay and Franklin drafted White Star’s official reaction to the disaster and came ashore long after the passengers had left. Ismay and Franklin also were present at a stressful media availability event and later issued a formal statement (shown in Figure 1.1).

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In the presence and under the shadow of a catastrophe so overwhelming my feelings are too deep for expression in words. I can only say that the White Star Line, its offices and employees will do everything humanly possible to alleviate the suffering and sorrow of the survivors and of the relatives and friends of those who perished.

The Titanic was the last word in shipbuilding. Every regulation prescribed by the British Board of Trade had been strictly complied with, the master, officers, and the crew were the most experienced and skillful in the British service.

I am informed that a committee of the United States had been appointed to investigate the circumstances of the accident. I heartily welcome the most complete and exhaustive inquiry, and any aid that I or my associates or our builders or navigators can render is at the service of the public and the governments of both the United States and Great Britain. Under the circumstances I must respectfully defer making any further statement at this time.

Figure 1.1 Formal statement made by J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of White Star, following the sinking of the Titanic. Ismay was aboard the doomed ship and issued this statement after consultation with Phillip A. S. Franklin, who headed White Star’s New York office (Ziakas, 1999, p. 120).

The surviving passengers issued their own statement, which read in part:

We, the undersigned surviving passengers from the steamship Titanic, in order to forestall any sensational or exaggerated statements, deem it our duty to give the press a statement of facts that have come to our knowledge and that we believe to be true. . . . We feel it is our duty to call the attention of the public to what we consider the inadequate supply of live-saving appliances provided for on modern passenger steamships, and recommend that immediate steps be taken to compel passenger steamers to carry sufficient boats to accommodate the maximum number of people carried on board.

(Ziakas, 1999, pp. 120–121)

The survivors were viewed as heroes, as was Captain Smith, who went down with the ship. Ismay was cleared of any wrongdoing by both British and U.S. inquiries, but his reputation never recovered. In motion pictures about the Titanic, Ismay was portrayed as a villain. The denotation of Titanic was “huge, colossal,” whereas its connotation was “doom.” White Star Line became synonymous with bad management. It suffered financial problems during the European Depression and, in the 1930s, merged with Cunard, with Cunard holding 62% of the shares. Both flags were flown on the ships until 1957, when the White Star flag was withdrawn. White Star liquidated its ships, and Cunard bought the remaining shares. By 1958, White Star no longer existed. Cunard went on to produce the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen Elizabeth II still makes transatlantic crossings.

Prodromes for the Titanic tragedy were ships that had sunk previously. White Star thought it had made, in the construction of the ship, all the necessary adjustments in response to warning signs. The company concentrated on the positives rather than the negatives. It did not examine the worst case scenario: “What if this doesn’t work?” That question was apparently never asked or heeded.

Prevention and preparation would have included making sure there were enough lifeboats and developing crisis management and crisis communications plans. Containment would have meant recognizing the danger as soon as the iceberg was sighted and putting into effect the crisis management and crisis communications plans. However, much arrogance (“This ship is unsinkable”) existed. Although there were a limited number of lifeboats, many went unfilled because of poor crisis management. There was apparently time—if there had been a plan to be carried out—to save many more passengers.

Total recovery was not likely in this crisis. The reputation of White Star remained damaged after nearly a century had passed. If the company

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had done anything right in the pre-launching, the sinking, or the post- sinking, there might have been a possibility of the recovery of their reputation.

In some cases, a company in crisis can seem to be a victim of crises, but this was not true in the sinking of the Titanic. The company was guilty of its own negligence and arrogance.

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Crisis Communications Theory

Academic researchers study the methods and procedures of professional communicators and develop theories of what is and what is not effective. Professionals rarely study theory but many have “tried and true” methods of practice that are, in effect, theory. Often, these practices of profes- sionals are the same theories that academicians have studied and named.