Media’s Role in Crisis Management

Darrell Tracy Johnson is a professional crisis manager based in Delaware. With over 20 years of experience in crisis management and public relations, Darrell Tracy Johnson is well-versed in the media’s role in covering sudden events and how they can affect a crisis.

Media coverage for a particular crisis can have a significant outcome on how the event is handled. Media channels can significantly impact public opinion and company reputation. This allows crisis management companies to prepare for events by laying the groundwork for a positive media interaction even before a crisis happens. An excellent example is Pepsi’s 1993 incident where syringes were allegedly found in cans. The company allowed the media to record the entire manufacturing process, improve public opinion, and dissolve claims.

With an overwhelming majority of legal counsel considering a company’s reputation to be the most critical asset, keeping a close check on media coverage is the best way to prevent a crisis from spiraling out of control.

The Six Stages of a Crisis

Delaware-based professional Darrell Tracy Johnson serves as a crisis manager at Crisis Management International. Possessing over two decades of experience, he has worked with non-profit, corporate, and government clients. Darrell Tracy Johnson helps his clients understand what’s going on and what the future holds in relation to crisis situations. Here are the six stages, or phases, of any crisis:

Warning

While some crises are unpredictable, others are preceded by warning signs. Once these signs are recognized, it is important to communicate their presence in order to increase awareness among those affected by the crisis.

Risk Assessment

As soon as a crisis occurs, a team of decision-makers determines the best way of handling the situation. They acknowledge the crisis, along with its potential consequences, and create strategies for dealing with the potential damage.

Response

When responding to a crisis, the decision-making team puts their plan into action. They inform everyone affected about the situation and explain their role in the response to it.

Management

People capable of addressing the crisis begin working according to the team’s plan. The outcome of the plan is carefully monitored for changes, and communication remains open between the public and the company or individual in crisis.

Resolution

Once everyone involved in crisis management completes their tasks, the crisis situation moves to the resolution phase. By this point, damage has stopped spreading and the event is well-addressed.

Recovery

In the recovery stage, things return to normal. Communication focuses on post-crisis counseling and companies return to pre-crisis operations and policies.

Types of Organizational Crises

Darrell Tracy Johnson is a Houston crisis management executive. He excels in situations where clients need to resolve corporate incidents and shift their public image back to a positive light. Working closely to manage disruptive situations, Darrell Tracy Johnson delivers media and operational strategies that can have an impact on legal outcomes. He has an integral knowledge of the diverse types of crises that can occur.

These diverse crises include natural disaster, from floods to earthquakes, and technological crises related to human error or cyber attacks. Increasingly common in today’s connected world, the latter are just as sudden as natural crises, but do not often result in loss of human life. Rather, they present urgent situations requiring coordination by corporate management, regulatory authorities, and IT security experts.

Another type of crisis is that of a malevolent action, such as employees working alongside criminals to force organizations to fulfill their demands. These can be acts of sabotage or terror, the kidnapping of key leaders, or even the use of propaganda to destabilize a company.

Crises involving confrontation occur where two people, or factions, fail to reach a consensus which results in conflict. Such situations can include a boycott or a labor action, such as a strike, or be confined to a passive action that impacts productivity and performance. With crises extending to categories such as workplace violence and organizational misdeeds, an individually tailored approach is required to understand and resolve a crisis.