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 Managing
Risk
Hello, I'm Tim O'Leary, the new Vice President of
Communications for O'Brien's Response Management (O'Brien'sRM). As many
of you already know, I was brought onboard to launch our new Media/Public
Relations service. As part of my approach to offering our assistance to
O'Brien'sRM clients, I'd like to introduce a new product, which we're
calling Command Post Communications Notes (or CP Notes for short). CP
Notes will be published every few weeks and will provide a snapshot of
news media trends and lessons learned from the arena of public relations.
Some of you may have already received your first edition of CP
Notes. For those that are seeing this new eNewsletter for the first
time, I have left in this introduction.
Unlike similar products in distribution by other companies, these notes
aren't a "cut and paste" of news from media publications you've
probably already read and without attribution. Instead, I will be
providing my observations on the latest underlying issues as they relate
to our industry or public relations in general. Of course I'll
provide links back to the source material so you can see the original
news coverage and attribution. The comments and opinions expressed here
are mine and those of O'Brien'sRM and are meant to be thought provoking
and challenging; but in a newsletter such as this, that's the idea. This
is a platform to provide our clients with the benefits of our insights
and observations based on our years of experience and expertise as to how
the news media-rich environment we operate in these days can affect your
business and influence business decisions.
As you read and reflect on these stories, please ask yourself: how much
time and effort has your company spent building up its reputation? Is
this an investment that you're prepared to protect? How long do you
suppose it would take for a major incident to destroy your company's
reputation if you weren't ready to respond? I'm sure that you have
controls in place to manage risk to your other investments and assets, but
have you given thought on what you could do to protect the investment
your company has made in building and maintaining its reputation?
At O'Brien'sRM, we've witnessed nearly every significant incident become
a reputation threatening event to our clients. That is why we have added
this new service. We have seen incidents damage reputations and you
should know it can affect your:
- Customer
relationships and approval
- Financing/credit
rating/analyst reports
- Current
and future partnerships and alliances
- Ability
to obtain insurance and other financial instruments at acceptable
rates
- Future
growth potential/market share
- Treatment
by news media and increased scrutiny by government regulators
(including new regulations)
Incidents
can quickly escalate into a business crisis and a business crisis will
last as long as there is news media interest in the incident. Is your
business ready for global news media scrutiny in the event of an
incident? Does your company have processes in place and the ability to field
a team to respond to an incident and return your business operations to
normal as soon as possible? Have you managed this risk? If you are
interested in knowing more, give us a call. We are prepared to
discuss how to manage your risk and assist you with your media/public
relations needs. I can be reached by e-mail at toleary@obriensrm.com
or by calling +1 (281) 379-7173.
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Is it the man or the message?
For our international clients and friends, did you enjoy
the company and news coverage of President Obama during his recent trip
to Europe and Africa? For those of you who watched his visit on TV and
weren't previously familiar seeing him in action, you may now have a
better appreciation of the communications skills that contributed to his
election.
Beside being a master communicator, Obama also has a very good
communications staff to back him up. Look closely at that foreign trip
and you will see that the degree of planning and preparation was what one
would expect from the White House. Plans were laid out well in advance
and executed with precision, with positive points being emphasized that
built on his popularity. Moreover, international partners and hosts also
supported his communications messages. To top it all off, he is an
eloquent and self-confident speaker.
I was the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet public affairs officer from 1995 to
1997, based in Yokosuka, Japan. In 1996 President Bill Clinton visited a
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in Yokosuka. My staff and I worked closely
with U.S. Embassy and White House Communications staff (amongst others)
in setting up the logistics for Clinton's in-port visit to the carrier.
Watching the efforts of the White House communications staff unfold was
very impressive and what I was found most fascinating was the level of
detail and consideration that went into getting "the" picture
right. A considerable amount of time went into positioning the
presidential podium, all to ensure that the "right" backdrop
would be carried in news photographs of the visit. Every media event
usually ends up with a primary image associated with it. The White House
image-makers know this and spend a great amount of time working the
visuals. In these types of events images usually trump language.
So what else can we learn? Be prepared with plans and the execution of
those plans, frame up the right "picture," use your PR staff or
get some professional help and last but not least, pick an excellent
spokesperson-if President Obama isn't available, we are!
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
(Who watches the watchers?)
The Washington Post offered a significant apology to its
readers recently and retracted plans for an ill-conceived "pay to
play" event. The plan proposed by the paper
envisioned bringing together Washington D.C. movers and shakers
(including their own reporters) in an off-the-record "salon" at
the home of the paper's publisher. The plan to conduct these
"salons" for reportedly $250,000 surfaced after the paper's own
newsroom took umbrage over the plan (pardon the pun, it made for
"bad press").With this controversy, the newspaper's usual role
of uncovering and writing about the ethical lapses of others had been
reversed. Remember, this is the same paper that brought down the Nixon
presidency through their coverage of the Watergate scandal.
Luckily for the Washington Post, their own staff (eventually)
fulfilled the function of "watching the watchers" and they've
been able to limit the damage.
With respect to U.S. papers, there exists (in theory anyway), a
"firewall" between the editorial and news sides of the paper.
That's why news coverage of an election by most U.S. newspapers is
usually neutral in tone, where "just" the facts are reported.
The newspapers are free to endorse candidates or opine on any subject in
their editorial pages.
Perhaps not-so coincidentally however, a recent poll shows Americans think
that news from the internet is "most reliable," which is
ironic, as a significant portion of on-line news started out as a product
from traditional news outlets, such as newspapers and wire services. An
issue over ethics and this conflict of interest will further damage
newspapers' credibility at a time when many papers are struggling for
survival. There are lessons to be learned here. Does your
company have a clear ethics policy? Do you follow the policy?
Who monitors the company's compliance with its ethics policy? Are
you prepared to respond to a breach of ethics, such as a conflict of
interest or perceived conflict of interest? Does your company
communications plan address such an event? Do you need to talk about your
relationship with the media? Please give us a call if we can be of
assistance.
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Environmental Justice
"Environmental Justice," according to the
Wikipedia, refers to "inequitable environmental burdens borne by
groups such as racial minorities, women, residents of economically
disadvantaged areas or residents of developing nations." The US EPA
has their own definition. The fact is that
much of the global petrochemical manufacturing infrastructure has people
(mostly on the lower end of the socio-economic scale) living in close
proximity to these plants. This makes owners and operators of these
facilities vulnerable to criticism and pressure by elected officials,
neighbors and environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (e-NGOs) who
make it their mission to mitigate the impact facilities have on the
environment and advocate on behalf of people who live nearby.
Compliance with existing regulations often is not enough to maintain a
"public license" to operate. Additional regulations and
government oversight can often be generated by the activities of e-NGOs
and community organizers.
It's been observed that the time to make friends is when you don't need
them. Does your facility have a community relations program? Many
responsible facility owners and operators have such programs in place. Do
you donate to local charities and organizations? Are your people involved
in the community? Do you have a relationship with local elected officials
and community organizers? Do you have a way to quickly communicate with
your "fence line" neighbors in the event of an emergency?
Please call us if we can be of assistance.
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CFATS
Does your facility meet U.S. Chemical Facility
Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)? CFATS is not an acronym that is in
common use amongst the public, but you can be certain that activists and
fence line communities next to refineries and chemical plants are
becoming familiar with it.
The immediate future of CFATS is uncertain. Our view is that there are
three possible futures for CFATS; 1) Congress extends CFATS for one year
and leaves it as is, 2) Congress extends CFATS for three years and leaves
it as is, or 3) Congress extends CFATS with several modifications.
Presently, we believe the most likely scenario is for Congress to extend
CFATS "as is" for one year. Contact Steve Falkner, manager of
compliance services at +1 (281) 320-9796 or email Steve at steve.falkner@obriensrm.com
if you have questions.
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Influenza
Pandemic influenza preparedness is as important as ever.
The H1N1 outbreak has been declared a Level 6 (the highest)
pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), and while the WHO
determination is based on the spread of the disease and not its severity,
WHO director, Margaret Chan, is advocating vigilance lest the virus
change in subsequent waves. Likewise, the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention is reporting that the novel H1N1 virus, in
conjunction with regular seasonal influenza viruses, poses the potential
to cause significant illness with associated hospitalizations and deaths
during the U.S. influenza season (which generally occurs from October to
May). As the Southern Hemisphere moves into its flu season,
epidemiologists are watching carefully for clues as to what the next
pandemic wave may bring.
We've posted on the O'Brien'sRM
website some generic flu advice that you can use with employees. However,
if you need help training and exercising your staff or developing a
detailed and customized flu plan, please give us a call.
O'Brien'sRM has full-time staff members with advanced degrees in
epidemiology and ample experience developing pandemic influenza plans,
training, and exercises for public sector and private sector
clients-including multiple cities, counties, states and corporations.
If interested, you can contact us by calling +1 (281) 320-9796 or
by emailing Clint
Ladd.
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Lamasa, Texas tank farm
explosion
In the July 8 issue of CP Notes we ran a story about the
tank farm explosion on May 14, 2009 near the small West Texas town of
Lamesa. The link we previously provided expired. Here's a current link to the dramatic
footage.
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Thank you - Please let us know
if you have any stories or items of information that we should know and
you'd like to pass on to other readers
Tim O'Leary, Vice President, Communications
O'Brien's Response Management
toleary@obriensrm.com
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