In my public relations classes at Florida, USC, and here in Tennessee– we are told that one of the things that companies, individuals, and other entities forget to do in a crisis situation is be transparent. Robert Pritchard had an interesting post that talked about why it is so important for public relations professionals to be transparent in a crisis situation. Pritchard defines transparency in his post as being “organizational openness, communication and accountability. Transparency authentically represents the citizenry by assuming people are rational, intelligent, and able to make the right decision.”
I agree– I think that there is a trend among organizations and individuals to be not the most open to their audiences, and they have the attitude that they can “weather the storm.” We are living in a completely different society where we can get news 24/7 from many different media outlets. The key is that you want to be transparent– but proactive and think about how this is going to impact you in the future. This means establishing a transparent crisis communication plan ahead of time that is detailed and well-planned out so that it can be implemented in a moment’s notice.
These are just a few of my thoughts. I hope you all are having a great day! 🙂
Best Wishes,
Karen 🙂
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