By Carlin Twedt: No organization is immune from crises. A CNN report on Aug. 13 titled “Escape from Mayo Clinic” alleged that Mayo Clinic had held a patient against her will and refused her request to transfer to another hospital, an assertion that officials of the health care facility have strongly disputed. The crisis unfolded […]
From Jonathan Turley, writing for The Hill: For lawyers, it has been a year of living dangerously. The scandals swirling around Washington have left a pile of attorneys accused of false statements, leaks or other improper conduct. The latest casualty appears to be Lanny Davis, who just admitted to not only spreading a false story […]
In this piece written for the D&O Diary, Paul Ferrillo, a partner in the New York office of the Greenberg Traurig law firm, examines the ways that an organization can respond well to a cyber incident. Years ago, when describing a “bad news” event, it was common to describe the situation to your colleague as […]
From Scott Simon at National Public Radio: We live in times of instant mass outrage. Someone does something, says something or is seen doing something and they can be demonized with a click. The next time you might be tempted, think of this: In the fourth inning of Sunday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and […]
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Those who have weathered crisis events within their organizations know that there are many costs the event can inflict – not including the heavy emotional and personal toll on those charged with responding to it. Some costs, such as lost business, staff defections, fines and jail time can be […]
From CommPro, written by Arthur Solomon, Public Relations Consultant: Depending upon which dictionary you use, a weasel will be defined as “sneaky or untrustworthy,” (Meriram-Webster); “achieve something by use of cunning or deceit,” (Oxford Living Dictionaries); or “a word used “to temper the forthrightness of a statement; that makes one’s views equivocal, misleading or confusing,” (Dictionary.com). Perhaps […]
From New York Times staff writer Michael Grynbaum: The toppling of Roseanne Barr — from her racist late-night tweet to the early-morning backlash and ABC’s axing of her highly rated show — took less than 12 hours. That is the equivalent of hyperspeed for businesses and brands that are accustomed to taking their time when […]
[By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] By now you know the story: Acerbic, sharp-tongued comedian Roseanne Barr shoots her mouth off on Twitter, posting a racist tweet targeting Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to President Barack Obama: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj [Valerie Jarrett]” ABC wastes no time cutting ties […]
[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] Starbucks is certainly no stranger to controversy. Past dust-ups include its “war on Christmas,” the year the company issued a simple red cup for the holidays, and the campaign designed to improve race relations built on asking baristas to write “RaceTogether” on coffee cups. Both of those efforts were minuscule […]
[By Stephanie York, JD, Hennes Communications] “What were they thinking?” That’s what we all ask when a big scandal unfolds, such as Penn State, Enron, Watergate and most recently, the Michigan State sex abuse scandal. Those on the outside are left scratching their heads, wondering how those huge institutions got so deep and so far […]