The Penn State Lesson
A defining aspect of the academic environment at universities is risk aversion. Institutions have elaborate internal procedures in place to handles issues that occur and administrators as well as faculty and staff are reluctant to expose colleagues to public scrutiny, sometimes even for the most egregious of violations. The Penn State situation presents a case […]
Fire, Facebook & Freedom of Speech
The Bel Air Volunteer Fire Department finds itself embroiled in controversy following a series of posts on Facebook. The controversy started when one of the company’s volunteers complained on his Facebook page about not receiving a discount at a near-by Sonic Drive-In Restaurant. The Fire Chief suspended three volunteer firefighters and demoted one of them […]
Spirit Airlines Reverses Decision, Will Now Reimburse Veteran
Veterans groups came together on the behalf of a dying Vietnam veteran and retired Marine, Jerry Meekins. Meekins is 76 years old and a resident of Clearwater, Florida. The former Marine purchased an airline ticket with Spirit Airlines for $197 in order to visit his daughter in New Jersey. After the ticket was purchased, Jerry […]
College Athletics…Social Media…Crisis Communications
We are all familiar with major news stories involving student athletics which brought their campuses to crisis. Recent stories include: Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino crashing his motorcycle while riding with his girlfriend; The murder of University of Virginia lacrosse player Courtney Love by her boyfriend and men’s lacrosse player George Hughley; The child abuse […]
Komen Fallout Continues
In what is becoming a classic case of crisis communications mismanagement, the Susan G. Komen Foundation continues to feel the fallout of its decision to cut off financing to Planned Parenthood. In a report on NBC’s Nightly News, reporter Lisa Myers detailed the on-going impact of the decision that was made earlier this year. You […]
NASCAR Benefits from Tweeting Decision
The perceived value of NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski’s Twitter account soared more than $200,000 following his track-side tweets during the 2012 Daytona 500. Just three days after the incident, Keselowski’s Twitter account had attracted more than 215,000 followers, resulting in the estimated value of the account to soar to more than $300,000. Prior to the […]
Educational Institutions Missing a Crisis Communications Opportunity
America’s college campuses are not immune from, rather prone to crisis. A recent survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) reports two-thirds of the institutions studied had an adverse event appear in traditional media (print, television, radio) during the previous 12 months that could have negatively impacted the school’s reputation. The […]
Komen Entered Race it Could Not Win
A firestorm erupted when the Susan G. Komen Foundation announced it was stopping its contributions to Planned Parenthood. According to the Foundation, its original decision was based on its own bylaws which state the Foundation will not provide financial resources to organizations which are “under investigation.” As this seems like a reasonable position for an […]
Abandoning Ship; Many Leaders Have During Critical Times
The wife of Captain Francesco Schettino is now weighing-in after her husband has been accused of abandoning the Costa Concordia cruise liner off the Tuscan island. Captain Schettino’s wife claims that her husband is not the “monster” he is being made out to be and that he is nothing more than a scapegoat. “My husband is at […]
Crisis Communications Plans Paramount
Sadly, Virginia Tech once again found itself in the news recently for an on-campus shooting incident when Officer Deriek Crouse, a 4-year veteran of the school’s police department, was shot and killed while conducting a routine traffic stop on campus. The shooter was not involved in the traffic incident, but approached the officer at the […]
