This week has been rife with examples of organizations that have had a rough go in the media.
The week began with the social media storm surrounding GreenPeace, Sinar Mas and Nestle, playing out on Nestle's Facebook fan page. There are new issues, a record fine and overall Washington troubles for Toyota (more on this here and here).
Front and center has been Massey Energy and the unspeakable tragedy unfolding in West Virginia. The allegations surrounding past compliance, recent articles and especially recent appearances by CEO Don Blankenship are not going to help with public perception.
When facing a crisis or controversy of this proportion, there are two things that can happen - you can define yourself (and your organization) or the media can do it for you. Hint - number 2 is not what you want.
My friend, owner of 5WPR and public relations expert Ronn Torossian has a great post on rules everyone must follow when appearing before the media.
If you want to crash and burn when appearing before the press, then ignore these rules:
1. Know what you want to say and how you want to say it - Ask yourself what am I trying to accomplish and who is my audience
2. Practice, prepare and have a message - Sounds simple enough, but without practice and preparation, the results usually speak for themselves (not in a positive way)
3. Body language- a roll of the eyes, a harsh look, or a awkward physical stance speaks louder than words; as an aside, Don Blankenship's fig leaf posture in the Diane Sawyer interview here does not send a great message.
4. Be honest and consistent - hypocrisy is a killer
5. Don't keep talking - Many stories have grown legs overnight by interview subjects who continued to talk
And I would add one more:
6. Be first - define yourself before your opposition (or the media) defines you; this is politics 101 - if you have negative news about yourself, put it out first â€" don't worry, if you don't and it exists, someone will find it.
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