Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/when-shaming-fingers-point-dealing-with-negative-publicity/5006703/
Newspapers keep us well informed about the tragedies and traumas of daily life. And in their telling, they can help us find answers to some of the puzzles in our own professional lives. We have almost daily examples-faulty O-rings in the Challenger, withdrawal of a well-known television evangelist after indiscreet behavior, misappropriation of federal funds or misuse of federal influence.How do administrators react when shaming fingers point in their direction? How do they respond when the focus is on some real or falsely rumored criminal, unethical, or otherwise shameful happening in the workplace for which they are responsible? We can use our newspapers to learn some valuable lessons.
Haven't you read negative publicity-or seen it on television-and wondered how you would deal with something like that? Whether the accusation is true or false makes no difference in the way it should be handled. Strategies and mistakes of government and corporate administrators can be used as case histories from which we can learn valuable lessons about dealing with crises.
The powerful effects of adverse public relations have only recently become obvious to big business. As one result, a new field called issues management has emerged ...