You are the CEO of a major corporation whose databases were recently hacked, and sensitive customer information was stolen. The media has persistently asked you for some kind of statement regarding th

MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 1 Cou rse Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 4. Compose a crisis message utilizing key techniques for maximum effectiveness and response . 4.1 Formulate a crisis message using the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC ) model . Reading Assignment To access the following resources , click the links below: Barton, L. (1991, Winter). When managers find themselves on the defensive. Business Forum , 16 (1), 8 -13. Retrieved from https://libraryresourc es.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=960502496 4&site=ehost -live&scope=site Brodsky, R. (2007, May). Overco ming Katrina. Government Executive, 39 (8), 50 –55. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=25556807& site=ehost -live&scope= site Gainey, B. S. (2010). Crisis leadership for the new reality ahead. Journal of Executive Education, 9 (1), 33 –43. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?ur l=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=65790601& site=ehost -live&scope=site Mahoney, D. (2016). Practice crisis communications before an emergency hits. Business Insurance, 50 (11). Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columb iasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=115714274 &site=ehost -live&scope=site Reynolds, B. J., & Earley, E. (2010). Principles to enable leaders to navigate the harsh realities of crisis and risk communication. Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning, 4 (3), 262 –273. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS &url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=53975377& site=ehost -live&scope=site Unit Lesson Having explored the phenomena of crises and having looked at some early steps in crisis communications, we are now ready to learn steps in planning and conducting crisis communications. For Unit IV, we will explore how to choose and appoint a spokesperson and how to prepare to communicate in a crisis. UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE Selecting a Spokesperson and Preparation MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Selecting a Spokesperson Some o rganizational leaders appear annoyed or inconvenienced by crises. While they are not fun, crises raise the question of what is the core purpose of leading. A crisis defines a leader (Jordan -Meier, 2012). It may be neither scheduled nor wanted, but it will showcase for the public what leaders possess in terms of character and competence. A crisis is a test. If individuals think they will not face crises, they should reconsider getting promoted into a leadership position or give the position they already have to more motivated peers who are better informed about the ups and downs of organizational leadership. Jordan -Meier (2012) compares the crisis leadership of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former President George W .

Bush during the early 2000s. Mayor Giuliani had been struggling for years to find traction in communicating his municipal policies and was under frequent political attack in messy city politics. However, when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 struck in New York City and D.C. in 2001, the mayor found his element. In the aftermath, Giuliani was all over his city, especially at the Twin Tow ers attack site (now known as Ground Zero) and subsequent memorial observances. Speaking at these sites, Giuliani conveyed a consistent, sympathetic message to the victims and a tough rhetoric regarding resilience, recovery, and resolve to defend the city. As a result, Giuliani rapidly rose in the public eye as a commendable leader and was praised all over the United States and abroad.

New York City was proud to have him as mayor in those times. Giuliani understood on 9/11 that this crisis was his time to s tep up to the plate as mayor of a stricken city and to act and communicate dec isively. President Bush also reacted quickly with many of the same actions and communications as Giuliani did; neither relied much on spokespeople in the first days after 9/11. This tough and determined voice, mingled with grief for the victims, resonated well in the United States and, for a time, united political foes. Bush, however, did not repeat this effective performance when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf states in 2005. After the hurricane’s landfall, the three -day gap that elapsed before his first on -site appearance did not fit well with the unique events of the crisis. Bush’s first communications about how great the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was doing merely added to the perception that the federal response effort was rudderless. As Bush was praising FEMA, and despite the agency’s hard work, the agency’s errors in emergency response planning were coming to light, and the perception of FEMA’s ineffective ness was fast becoming part of the crisis (Jordan -Meier, 2012). During a crisis, all heads figuratively turn toward the scene of the action (if there is one); then, all heads turn toward the leaders involved. Especially as it pertains to leaders, perceptio n does equal reality. In another example, Jordan -Meier (2012) relates a vignette about the Detroit -based auto manufacturers who flew to Washington, D.C., in their corporate jets during the 2008 recession to appear before Congress and ask for bailouts for their firms. The media gleefully noted how they got to D.C. and the contradictions and irony of their mission. Media scrutiny and dialogue made the CEOs look disconnected from the ordinary citizen and uncaring about the fortunes of others in the economic c risis —messages that were opposite of what they were trying to convey on this trip. Understanding social tendencies in crises helps in deciding what the message(s) will be and who will communicate the message(s). Often, communicating means speaking, but it can also mean authoring an internal organizational e -mail, Facebook post, Twitter tweet, or a column in the local paper. The person chosen to be the crisis communicator should be capable of actually doing the task. Do not assume that people in leadership positions have the skill mastery needed. An organization’s senior leaders are often from an older generation and not accustomed to communication channels that are now in fashion, or a leader may Kate Mitchell, Managing Director with Scale Venture Partners, listens as Sonal Shah, Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation, talks about investing in the economic recovery during a panel discussion at the 2011 Women in Finance Investment Symposium . (U.S. Department of Treasury, 2011 ) MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 3 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title have been insulated by years of senior executive service, so he or she cannot relate to others without difficulty. This “living in a bubble” mentality does happen. The chosen crisis communicator could be the top leader —the CEO — or a public affairs spokesperson, another leader, or another organizational member who is not necessarily a formal leader. Each choice has certain pros and cons to be weighed out during crisis communications planning. The selected spokesperson should already have rapport with some, many, or all of the audiences who will receive the crisis comm unications. It is too late to do this in the wake of a breaking crisis. The selected spokesperson should be an effective communicator with a sharp sense of situational awareness. Leaders are striving to get out the intended organizational message with the desired effect. The chosen leader has to be prepared to send approved crisis communications right away, possibly within minutes. Viable candidates are the select few who can process crisis information rapidly and begin what will be a campaign of consistent and generally optimistic messages (Reynolds & Earley, 2010). Preparing to Conduct Crisis Communications and Composing the Messages In this unit, we addressed how to select a spokesperson in the wake of a crisis, though a deliberate plan can already have that selection made or at least narrowed down for an organization. Likewise, key messages, message formats, and message development and approval procedures should be in crisis response and crisis communications plans. Often, this has not been done for a scenario that fits the current crisis situation, so the most promising communications procedures and messages will be addressed below.

Reynolds and Earley (2010) offer six principles in their crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC) m odel:  Be first : Communications are near instantaneous and come from many sources, and opinions begin to form with equal speed. Early communications are paramount.  Be right : Some Army headquarters have a sign in their operations section that reads, “The fi rst report is always wrong.” In the heat of the moment, people are fallible and may not have really seen, heard, or learned what they later thought they did. Having irrefutable facts is a virtue in communications, as they can be reported, shared, and refer red to simply and concisely, avoiding the embarrassment of having to retract incorrect communications.  Be credible : A test of a leader is his or her ability to persevere through unpleasant facts. Once an effort to hide the truth is discovered, the leader’s —and organization’s —integrity is gone and likely may never be fully recovered.  Express empathy : This counters the perception that a senior leader or spokesperson operates in a bubble and cannot relate to people with more common experiences, especia lly those who are now victims in the crisis.  Promote action : A leader must reflect a “bias for action.” It is foolish to do nothing or not enough to adequately address a situation. Promoting action sustains the expectation that members of an organization, and especially its leaders, will act to influence their situation. Of course, promoting action is more critical in a crisis than at more routine times.  Show respect : This is linked to expressing empathy. It is imperative to have a good rapport with one’s audiences and communicate in a way that reflects respect toward message receivers and other parties. Crisis communications provide an opportunity to clearly show that those affected by the crisis are important to the organization. A crisis is definitely not the time to settle grudges, blame or diminish others, or publicly exchange bitter messages as a part of an ongoing or new dispute. Certainly, no single message can adequately address every crisis, though a crisis communications plan could Stephen Deblasio, Federal Coordinating Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), addresses dignitarie s during a meeting to discuss Typhoon Soudelor relief efforts in Saipan's Emergency Operations Center . By Cox , is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Cox, 2015) MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 4 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title include drafts for the top three or top five contingencies considered most likely for the organization to face. The following fictional example involves the press conference of the incident commander for a wildfire response team. The wildfir e, which is now 10 miles eas t of Smalltown, was first reported yesterday at noon, and county and Forest Service firefighting teams established a cordon here and here (points to a map) based on wind direction and proximity of homes and business structures. The Sheriff’s Office has pub lished voluntary evacuation instructions for residents within a 15 -mile radius of the wildfire’s current boundaries. The Red Cross is now established at the ABCD Community College, and volunteers are assisting with the moving of residents’ horses and pets. We have requested air tanker assets from the state, and the governor assured us and the County Board of Supervisors of her support. We regret the difficulties suffered by residents who had to evacuate, but we are confident we can contain and extinguish th is fire within 4 days . It is risky to promise something tangible, but if the spokesperson knows “the business” and can do so, that measure of confidence builds an optimistic, confident message that is useful in its level of detail. Rather than making lofty pronouncements, it is better to focus on specifics that the media and the public want to know and have on record from your organization. A firefighting incident commander will be looked to as the voice of authority and experience. Fulfilling that vision by having up -to-date ope rational awareness as to where the wildfire is now, what assets are fighting it, what relief is available for residents, and what the state promises to deliver cements in the public mind that the communities’ most qualified people are working on the best f easible crisis response. An empathetic and respectful tone removes any lingering perception that a spokesperson is an out -of-touch government hack but, rather, is a professional who is serving the public good and mitigating the crisis situation. A frequen t irony in large organizations and governments is that professionals work hard in the aftermath of a crisis to provide an effective response, but this effort is not accurately communicated to the public. As noted in the CERC model, if a well -crafted crisis communications message is not shared right away as the crisis unfolds, the resultant gap in communication may lead the public to decide that the organization or government is not responding effectively or its leaders are not sure what to do. This is why h iding or ignoring an issue, delaying a crisis communications message, muzzling spokespeople by forbidding them to communicate, or releasing a patronizing message are bad tactics. Few people are fooled by them, and anger can quickly form and grow. Only effe ctive crisis communications will properly represent the organization in times of crises. References Cox, D. (2015 ). 150809 -N-KM939 -142 [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/navalsurfaceforces/20279236959/in/ph otolist -wU1oCx -x8xY79 Jordan -Meier, J. (2012). Appearances do matter: Leadership in a crisis. Communication World, 29 (6), 16 –20. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=79959594&site=ehost -live&scope=site Firefighters with the U.S. Air Force Academy's 10th Civil Engineer Squadron receive a safety briefing in the Pine Valley housing area June 26, 2012 (Kaplan, 2012 ). MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 5 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Kaplan, M. (2012 ). Safety, safety, safety [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https ://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/7456289108/in/photolist -azNZfZ -cmTqYL -avJJTC -oCnPnJ - o8came -fpgsVo -9Vvf1K -a1svM5 -ef5C8K -ciQjab -dTeSiV -daE9Ad -qhEroV -9n1qjn -faGmKT -fWhQQo - cMZQqU -cnAnj5 -dNRhfG -9rk6ZS -ecm4vY -odrUeS -95HLTG -odsg3U -8b4xdc -cnsvXU -8NF8F8 -8 Reynolds, B. J., & Earley, E. (2010). Principles to enable leaders to navigate the harsh realities of crisis and risk communication. Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning, 4 (3), 262 –273. Retrieved from https://libraryr esources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=53975377&site=ehost -live&scope=site U.S. Dep artment of Treasury. (2011 ). Women in Finance Investment Symposium [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ustreasury/5932215948/in/photolist -a3da8j - awZthA -9ifzFR -7QjJJ1 -eECTe6 -awZtg1 -qKcemz -awZtiL -awWGhv -awZppN -878qtK -wUoY64 - fF9Mu9 -rjPL9G -fF9MAf -8q1qu4 -r3kFFb -bxwfAa -ayJCkh -cv8ZDs -cv8Zvy -cv8Zn5 -zyzjBN - zQ4M9G -zNTy1C -zyGa2k -DgdnZN -z