Disaster Recovery Journal- Volume 19, Issue 3 - Summer 2006 Issue -Say What?

Return to the
Summer 2006 Issue

DISASTER RECOVERY
JOURNAL

P. O. Box 510110
St. Louis, MO 63151
(314) 894-0276
Fax: (314) 894-7474
Internet www.drj.com
E-mail drj@drj.com

PUBLISHER
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jon Seals
jon@drj.com

SENIOR EDITOR
Janette Ballman
janette@drj.com

COPY EDITORS
Richard Sandhofer
richards@drj.com
Pamela Clifton
pamelaclifton@hotmail.com

ADVERTISING
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

_____________

Corporate

President/CEO
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

Vice President
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
Patti Fitzgerald, CBCP
patti@drj.com

CONFERENCE REGISTRAR
Merce Knese
mercedes@drj.com

CIRCULATION
Laura Baugh
laurab@drj.com

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Jeff Dato, MBCP, KPMG
John Jackson, J Albright Advisors
Edward Devlin, E.S. Devlin & Associates
James Hammill, CBCP, JMH Consulting
Pat McAnally, SunGard Availability
Brian Turley, Strohl Systems
Belinda Wilson, Hewlett-Packard

INTERNATIONAL
CONTACTS
England: Thom Hetherington
Business Continuity
Phone: 0161-237-1007
thomh@tempus.demon.co.uk

Australia: Anthony J. Harvey
Journal of Business Continuity
Phone: 0011-613-953-0055-8
fax: 0011-613-953-0528
sector@notability.com.au

Japan: Shinji Hosotsubo
Quake Japan Co., Ltd.
Phone: 03-3215-2880
fax: 03-3215-2881

Click Here for a Printable Version

Say What?
Making Appropriate Comments to the Media

By RON FAUSET, CBCP

Iwas coming home from the gym when I heard a news report on the radio. It was a typical report about tornados that had touched down earlier that day. The reporter was giving the lead in to the story before the broadcast of a statement from a weather “expert.”
I was fully expecting to hear about the speed of the winds or the barometric pressure experienced due to the tornado. Or at least I was waiting to hear what conditions caused the sudden and violent force of this deadly occurrence. We’ve all heard statements from people “in the know” following tragic events. Sometimes it’s someone from academia, or a witness, a victim, or a public relations professional. I was not prepared, however, to hear the following statement from the “expert:”
“The winds were very, very bad.”
Now it was a good thing that I happened to be a passenger at the time because I lost it. I was laughing so hard I had to fight back tears. This spokesperson might have followed those six little words with a very accurate and scientific explanation of the tornado but I didn’t hear it. I was still trying to comprehend that statement. All that will remain in my limited memory bank is, “The winds were very, very bad.”
Agreed, the above statement was accurate, to the point, and very sincere. However, is this really the statement this individual wants people to remember? How proud is his boss of him for making this particular statement?
This is at the forefront of the “DUH” factor. The “DUH” factor can mean many things, but to me it was screaming:

Do U Have … a clue?
Do U Have … any idea how dumb that sounded?
Do U Have … any idea how worthless (although totally accurate) that piece of information was?

These six words will fill up valuable brain cells with useless data in my overcrowded information storage center. I’m not sure this will benefit me in any way in the future. I don’t expect this to appear as a Jeopardy answer: “Alex, what is ‘The winds were very, very bad?’”
Maybe this wouldn’t have even been broadcast if it hadn’t been a slow news day. I don’t know. Maybe the director just told this reporter to go out and get a 30-second sound bite to fill time, and this was the best she could do. It doesn’t matter why this was broadcast. It is, however, what I’m going to remember from this person.
And who was this person? I’m sure the reporter introduced the individual. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to think of the person as an official spokesperson for the National Weather Service. Accurate or not, that’s what I’m going to remember.
Will the NWS want people thinking that this is an “official” statement from their agency? Probably not.
Whatever the reason, this is an example of how important it is for business continuity planners to make sure their plans have detailed instructions on dealing with the media.
If something stupid is said during an interview, you can better believe this is what people are going to remember. And unless it is very, very clear that this is just a bystander, people are going to “remember” this as coming from an official spokesperson representing your company.
What if it wasn’t even about your company? I remember the “winds were very, very bad” statement as coming from the NWS because that’s who I assume the media would go to for an “expert” commentary. Could it be from a company with a similar name that people are going to connect with your company? Was that Johnson & Johnson or S.C. Johnson?
I have a fear that, although I have media procedures included in my business continuity plan, someone from my company will fall into the following scenario:
“Hello, I’m Anita Story from KBLND. Your manufacturing plant just burned to the ground, you’ve suffered mass casualties, and we’re standing in your debris-laden parking lot. What is your assessment?”
“We’re @#$%^& screwed.”
“Thank you. This has been a live broadcast of the Blond Radio Network.”
Okay, again the above statement is accurate, to the point, and very sincere. However, I don’t think it is what your customers, stakeholders, and (we mustn’t forget) your employees want to hear. Most importantly, is this really what we want our customers, stakeholders, and employees to remember?
It is possible to have a statement which is totally accurate, to the point, and very sincere but still very, very bad. It’s even possible that Custer, when approached by one of his subordinates at Little Big Horn, was asked:
“Colonel, my men have taken up defensive positions, we’re completely surrounded, and we’re low on ammunition. What should I tell the troops?”
“We’re @#$%^& screwed.”
Again, very accurate, to the point, and very sincere. But do you really think his men wanted to hear that statement at that point and have it be the last thing they remember? I would like to think that if my company suffers a worst-case scenario that whoever is approached by the media will make a statement similar to:
“We have a detailed and well-tested business continuity plan in place. Our primary concern right now is for the families of the victims. We will have a full statement to give to the media after we have taken care of the needs of our employees and their families first and have had a chance to fully assess the situation.”
That is what I would like to think will happen. However, being the certified business continuity professional that I am, I can’t help but think about why I’m really losing my hair. I lay awake at night thinking about whether I have modified my plan following the debrief recommendations from my last exercise. I think, “Have not only my company spokespersons been briefed on what to say if approached by the media but all of my employees, if we experience a catastrophe?” And I think about … well, I think too much.
Immediately following a disaster it’s important to remember to have a spokesperson ready to make a statement, however brief, to the media. The spokesperson should approach the media before they latch onto the wrong person, and the spokesperson should remember:

Don’t lie to the media.
Don’t make excuses.
Don’t place blame.
Don’t say, “No comment.”
Do show compassion.
Do demonstrate your preparedness to deal with the situation.
Don’t say anything stupid.

Unfortnately, you don’t always have control over who the media approaches following a disaster. You don’t have any control over the emotions and mental capacity of that person to remember what to say or do. If something very, very bad is said, are you prepared to deal with the fallout after that statement reaches the public?
The media is trained to know what questions to ask to get the responses they want. Most companies do not have a full-time, trained public relations expert on staff. The media is going to find the person most willing to make a statement and go with it. My greatest nightmare is that the glare from my dome will serve as a beacon to the media searching out some poor, clueless soul from whom to get a statement, and I’ll be the one standing there stressing over the situation with a mike shoved in my face and saying for all the world to hear:
“We’re @#$%^& screwed.”
“Thank you. This has been a live broadcast of the BALD Radio Network.”

Ron Fauset, CBCP, is a board member of the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Contingency Planners and is the director of publications. He has conducted mock disaster drills at financial institution seminars for clients.