Communicating Crisis

Much research in our field centers on crisis communication, that is, what to do when an FDA warning leaves 70 percent of your company’s spinach harvest in jeopardy or when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls your $200 baby rattles citing risks of aspiration and laceration, as was the case for Tiffany and Co. in July 2006.

To the affected farmers and jewelry giants, these are indeed crises. And to the public relations practitioners on damage control 80 hours a week, crisis probably isn’t strong enough. In these instances, established theory on crisis management and terms like “corporate apologia” and “image restoration” actually matter. There are chapters in textbooks that prescribe best practices for regaining the public’s trust and limiting financial losses. Follow the six-step process and you’re well on your way.

But what about communicating crises? I mean, real crises. Crises of civil war, of death and disease, of poverty, injustice and corruption. What’s the six-step fix to these global evils?

Obviously, the formula is not quite as simple. In fact, few would suggest there is a formula at all. But if real-time news coverage and an increasingly decentralized internet really do create an imperative for prompt action, as former Secretary of State James Baker III says in his memoir, then professional communicators can do something.

Public relations managers, technicians, writers, designers and webmasters can ignite change in economic policy, diplomacy, human rights and public health.

Scholars would say we must first critically examine our strategies, and in deference to learned principles of strategic communication I would most often agree. In these cases, however, it seems most important to do something. Make some noise. Raise some awareness. Gain some coverage.

And worry about theory later.