From Jay Fitzgerald, writing for the Harvard Business School… Days after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, a shaken Ed Stack, then the CEO and largest shareholder of Dick’s Sporting Goods, decided it was time for his 850-store chain to pull certain guns off its store shelves. The accused 19-year-old shooter in […]
From Rasheeda Childress writing in Associations Now… Actor Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s bald head—a result of alopecia, an autoimmune disorder—made headlines around the world. While most news outlets discussed the shock factor, event planners were reminded of the policies and procedures that need to be […]
From Carol Kinsey Goman writing in CommPro… During a break at the conference where I had just spoken on “Connection, Empathy, and Leadership Presence,” a man from the audience told me this story: “When one of our leadership team members suddenly died, I told his wife that I’d clean out his office and make sure […]
It was indeed the slap heard ’round the world. But if you’re looking for Hollywood gossip, look elsewhere. Instead, let’s look at the situation from the crisis management point of view. Here’s how I saw it: If you’re a high-power celeb and you sit in the front row of the Academy Award ceremonies, you are […]
Browns Release Statement After Deshaun Watson Acquisition Dee and Jimmy Haslam: “We spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and investigating the opportunity to trade for Deshaun Watson. We are acutely aware and empathetic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision. Our team’s comprehensive evaluation process was of utmost importance due to the […]
With no barriers to entry, every public relations firm in the U.S. – and many around the world – now appear to offer “crisis communications.” They don’t. At least, all of those who claim to don’t. Crisis work requires a different – and often counterintuitive – skill set from the traditional practice of public relations. […]
By Tom Jones, writing for Poynter… As a former sports columnist who never played sports at a professional level, I heard it all the time. “Who are you” fans would ask, “to criticize anyone? You never played the game.” It wasn’t just fans. A few athletes even said that to me from time to time. […]
By Seth Arenstein, PR News… PR pros hope there are few evenings like last night (Jan. 24). Relying on anonymous sources, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported that CBS approached erstwhile MSNBC and NBC star Brian Williams with a job offer. Twice Williams was pitched on anchoring “The CBS Evening News.” Rehabilitated on MSNBC’s “11th Hour,” Williams left that post last month. Officially […]
From Timothy Noah, writing for The Soapbox… We’ve seen much commentary about whether it was inappropriate for Joe Biden to mumble into a hot mic that Fox News’s Peter Doocy was a “stupid son of a bitch,” and not enough about whether Biden’s assessment was truthful. The first question is easily answered. No, presidents should not go […]
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications If you’ve ever attended one of our seminars on crisis communications, we often talk about the power of apology. Real apologies; apologies that are authentic and true; apologies without qualification or the use of “weasel words” (e.g. “mistakes were made”). Perhaps no industry does apology better AND worse than the […]