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SM& EVP ASHLEY MCCOWN COMMENTS IN PR WEEK ON "THE NEW CRISIS LANDSCAPE"
February 2007
In an era when information and misinformation spreads quickly through electronic news media, forums and blogs, companies must prepare ahead of time to be just as fast in getting their message out.
In PR Week 's February 19 issue, Solomon McCown Executive Vice President Ashley McCown comments on how businesses and organizations cannot afford silence or a slow response to a crisis. "The longer you wait to talk, then you have to do two things," said McCown. "You have to respond to whatever the crisis situation is, and you also have to respond to criticism that you're moving too slowly. Those two things together are pretty difficult to surmount."
A "holding-pattern" statement can often be a good initial strategy, in which the business or organization acknowledges the crisis, outlines what it does or does not know and suggests its response plans. Such comments do not necessarily open up legal vulnerability and can quiet the clamor of a public that awaits answers.
"You can almost always have something to say in those early hours of a crisis, and I think that's critical, particularly with what's happened online," McCown said.
