Crisis situations can pose significant challenges for public affairs professionals, who need to communicate effectively with the media and the public while managing reputational risks, legal issues, and stakeholder expectations. How can you prepare for and handle media inquiries in a crisis scenario? Here are some best practices to follow.
Before you respond to any media requests, you need to gather as much information as possible about the nature, scope, and impact of the crisis. What are the facts, the causes, and the consequences? Who is affected and how? What are the potential risks and opportunities? What are the key messages and actions you want to convey? Having a clear understanding of the situation will help you craft a coherent and consistent response that aligns with your organization's values and goals.
Hopefully, you have a crisis communication plan in place that outlines your roles, responsibilities, and procedures for dealing with media inquiries in a crisis situation. If not, you should develop one as soon as possible. A crisis communication plan should include a designated spokesperson, a media contact list, a media statement template, a media briefing format, a Q&A document, and a monitoring and evaluation system. Having a plan will help you coordinate your efforts, avoid confusion and contradiction, and maintain control over the narrative.
Having a plan means anticipating worst case scenarios. It's important to know your organizations weaknesses and assess risk. Don't be caught off guard. Get to know everyone you can at all levels and build trust. Be familiar with continuity of operations plans and other emergency protocols. Be proactive by contributing to the regular review and refresh of these contingency plans. Your team will adapt better to rapidly changing circumstances having prepared together. It will reassure you and pave the way for more effective communication internally so you can address the media with timely updates confidently in a crisis.
One of the worst things you can do in a crisis situation is to ignore or avoid the media. This will only create more speculation, mistrust, and criticism. Instead, you should be proactive and transparent in your communication with the media. This means issuing a timely and accurate media statement, acknowledging the problem and expressing empathy, explaining what you are doing to address the situation and prevent recurrence, and providing regular updates and follow-ups. Being proactive and transparent will help you build credibility, trust, and goodwill with the media and the public.
In a crisis situation, immediate response should be remain transparent and truthful about the situation. It will help minimise the damage done to the organisation/brand reputation. It so happens that in such situations media follows-up until they receive the complete picture. It is important to maintain clear communication and avoid gaps in communicating details. Also, no blame games.
You should expect to face tough questions from the media in a crisis situation. Therefore, you should anticipate and prepare for the most likely and difficult ones. You can use your Q&A document as a guide, but you should also do some research on the media outlets and reporters you are dealing with, their interests, angles, and styles. You should also rehearse your answers and practice your delivery, tone, and body language. Anticipating and preparing will help you avoid being caught off guard, defensive, or evasive.
You should always treat the media with respect and professionalism in a crisis situation. This means being courteous, responsive, and cooperative. You should also respect their deadlines, formats, and preferences. You should avoid arguing, blaming, or lying to the media, as this will only damage your reputation and credibility. You should also avoid using jargon, acronyms, or technical terms that may confuse or alienate the media and the public. Being respectful and professional will help you establish rapport, mutual understanding, and positive coverage.
After the crisis is over, you should evaluate and learn from your media engagement. You should monitor and analyze the media coverage, feedback, and impact of your communication. You should identify what worked well and what didn't, what gaps or challenges you faced, and what improvements or adjustments you need to make. You should also document and share your lessons learned and best practices with your team and organization. Evaluating and learning will help you enhance your skills, performance, and reputation as a public affairs professional.