Crisis Communications 101: Overcoming Panic and Fear

Welcome back.  It's a sober day in Ottawa, with the sounds of gunfire still ringing in our ears following the terrible events of today in the Nation's Capital. As with all Canadians, as well as from friends we've been hearing from in the United States and around the world through social media, we are left with a sense of profound sadness and a realization that our world somehow won't be the same again.


Crisis Communications 101: Overcoming Panic and Fear
As with many emergencies and crises, communications is critically important to:
1. help the management of the response itself by giving people clear information and directions
2. rapidly de-escalate the crisis, and
3. create confidence in the public that the situation is being handled credibly and coherently.
So, having established those goals, let's look at how communications was handled by police, politicians and the government in the terrible events of October 22nd?
1. Speak only on facts. This was - for the most part - accomplished under very difficult circumstances, while operating without perfect information. Given that the situation was still 'fluid' or 'active' as officials said, there were bound to be contradictory information and a certain level of confusion. This was particularly true in this crisis regarding the possibility of another gunman. The gravest error - under great pressure to reassure - would have been to give false assurances that there wasn't another gunman. The simple fact is that the security and police forces couldn't rule out that possibility. As a result, the security perimeter kept widening around Parliament Hill (where the shooter was killed) and the National War Memorial (where Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was cold-bloodedly murdered).
2. Get information out quickly - even when you don't have all the answers. The police forces began tweeting very quickly with information - as well as requests for photos and videos from the public. Although it took four hours before a news conference was held, it was reasonable in the circumstances. The news conference itself, held at RCMP Headquarters, didn't provide much new information and the response to it by journalists and the public (as evidenced by social media) was one of disappointment. So, either they needed to wait until they had something more solid, or perhaps go earlier with a quick update. However, they would no doubt have been equally criticized in either of those scenarios too. All in all, it demonstrated coherent action among the RCMP, Ottawa Police, the Canadian Forces and the Mayor of Ottawa - was the best they could do in the circumstances.

A somber PM addresses the nation

3. Political Leaders need to be present - but not 'political'. The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement early on but the decision was taken for Prime Minister Harper to wait until 7 pm to speak - which some felt seemed a little late - as President Obama had made remarks and shared his condolences hours earlier from the White House. Nevertheless, the PM, as with Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau - all did an equally good job of their statements of condolences, praise and determination. Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa also did an excellent job of conveying the feelings of the people of Ottawa at the news conference and in subsequent media interviews.
4. Communicate action that people need to take without invoking 'panic'. This, the RCMP and Ottawa Police did superbly well. Their orders to 'shelter in place' for those in downtown offices and for the rest of the public to stay away were respected and followed. [I was downtown in my car a block away on Queen St. in the first hour, and the sense of order was already apparent].
5. Manage public perceptions and expectations. This was done very well, overall. The perception of professionalism and purposeful response was evident from the beginning of the crisis. They didn't fall into the trap of 'over-promising and under-delivering' on expectations. Instead, the RCMP, Ottawa Police and Canadian Forces managed and fine-tuned our expectations well, and as the afternoon wore on, you could feel the relief start to take hold. By early evening, as with many of our neighbours, people emerged from their homes to walk their dogs, get some air, and try to feel 'normal' again.

Cpl. Cirillo minutes before on duty, R.I.P.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who sacrificed his young life in duty for his country. It is difficult to find the words to convey how profoundly we admire and respect his sense of devotion and the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that the public never forget those who had fallen in defence of our nation's values. Now, we in turn, owe him that determination.

A true hero, Sgt-at-Arms Kevin Vickers

Finally, amidst all of that sorrow, however, there were inspirational stories - ranging from ordinary tourists and passersby pitching in to volunteer medical aid to Cpl. Cirillo - to Parliament's Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers who saved many lives by taking down the gunman - to police, emergency and security personnel - who acted with courage and professionalism to contain and reduce what could have been a far worse tragedy today. And yes, to journalists - print, radio and TV - who kept us informed, with restraint and tact, at risk to themselves on this terrible day, thank you.
 

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This just in...pollsters get it wrong!

Welcome back!
There's lots to talk about since I last blogged two weeks ago. Laura Peck and I have been busy with the release of the 2012-13 editions of two of our pocket tips books - Overcoming Panic & Fear and Encountering the Media. As well, we've been marking final exams in our Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management course in Strategic Communications. My travels also took me to Cincinnati Ohio for a seminar and I was very impressed with the city and the beauty of its downtown - even nicer than I had remembered it over a decade ago.
However, just in case you thought it's been all work and no play, I did manage to squeeze in four rounds of golf in Ocean City, Maryland with about 40 close friends. My golf game was better than expected - which may not be saying much. Perhaps I benefited from low expectations or just plain luck, but I'll take it anyway!

Which brings me to some comments on issues in the news - north and south of the border.

Alberta Re-Elects the Redford Government:
Pundits and Pollsters Caught Flat-Footed
It was hard to say what was more shocking - Premier Alison Redford and her government getting re-elected or the realization that the pundits and pollsters got it all so wrong in their assessment of the voters.
Four Factors that Re-Elected the Redford Government
How did the Redford campaign do it? There were several factors:
1. Danielle Smith's Wildrose Alliance Party peaked too soon. Following early stumbles by the Redford team out of the gate, the Wildrose campaign found themselves in a front-runner's position. Clearly, they weren't ready for that. They had been trailing the Progressive Conservatives for months, and had more than likely prepped for a come-from-behind kind of campaign. Instead, as front-runners, the swing voter looks at them through a different lens - that is, can they form a credible government? In reverse, the Redford PCs had prepped for a front-runner campaign and within days had to switch to the under-dog role. They pulled that off very well.
2. Wildrose's failure to insulate itself. When several Wildrose candidates were revealed to have made some homophobic and racist remarks, it seems to have under-scored the doubts that the Wildrose Alliance could form a credible and inclusive government. Danielle Smith didn't over-react - and for that she was praised by pundits and media commentators. However, her under-reaction may have been more damaging than she had realized. She needed to insulate her party from those comments, and didn't do so.

3. The fading Danielle Smith and the surging Alison Redford. Danielle Smith was a  strong and powerful communicator throughout much of the campaign. However, as she headed towards apparent victory she went low-profile - failing to reinforce the wavering voters. She needed to confirm the impending buy. In contrast, Alison Redford picked up steam and became stronger and more persuasive as the campaign got closer to the finish line. Even on election day, she put in a grueling multi-stop tour giving the impression that she had the passion and the vision for the job.
4. Know your voter universe. Clearly, Premier Redford had a clear view of her 'voter universe' - moderate Albertans - which seemed for much of the campaign to be too narrow and populated by the NDP and Liberals. Thus, she seemed to leave the right-of-center totally open to the Wildrose Alliance. Yet that gamble paid off hugely. It turned out there was a constituency for the PC Party and she zeroed in on it like a laser.
5. Push back on criticism but get your message out. The Redford campaign took the media hits, editorial and pundit condemnation and polling results in stride. They pushed back hard on criticisms but they kept their focus.

You have to hand it to Premier Redford's campaign team - led by Stephen Carter and Susan Elliott - who proved that if you have a strong leader, a clear strategy, flexibility and skill in execution, you can indeed pull off a victory. Now for those pollsters and pundits who got it so wrong, what have they learned? Inquiring minds want to know.
Ethics and Political 'Scandals'
The Harper government has had a rocky ride in recent months with the management of controversies such as the full costs of the F-35s, the campaign 'robo-calls'm the use of military aircraft etc. The issue for communicators is when do such stories start to cause serious damage to a government's brand?
I appeared Wednesday evening on CTV Power Play with Don Martin, along with fellow panelists, Tyler Sommers of Democracy Watch and Alan Gilmore of St. Paul's University to discuss the ethics and the communications of such controversies.

The real point to be made here is that most governments can survive a number of minor controversies - such as Ministers who spend $1000 on hotel rooms in London (Minister Bev Oda) or (gasp) $16 orange juice and $3000 on limousines and drivers. The key is that it can't look like it's an ingrained pattern in which the Prime Minister or the government don't seem to care. The Harper government is not there yet, but as it came in to power feeding on the public outrage over the Liberals' sponsorship scandal, they have to be 'Caesar's wife' themselves. Did Bev Oda handle it well by apologizing and paying back the hotel upgrade? A day late and half-way didn't quite make the grade and she (and the government) had to do damage control for another day.
Walmart's Ethical Problem

The Sunday New York Times ran a major story detailing a pattern of pay-offs to Mexican officials in the roll-out of Wal-mart stores across that country.  The real damage wasn't so much the pay-offs -which wouldn't shock most people doing business there. It was emails along with former officials detailing that the knowledge and blessing went right to the CEO's office at Wal-mart. They apparently compounded the problem by ignoring advice to get an outside counsel, and instead turned over the internal investigation to one of the execs apparently at the heart of the scandal. So far, CEO Michael T. Duke has not responded.
What happened? The very next day, the share value of Wal-mart dropped over $1 billion! Fortunately for Wal-mart, other media focused on the issue of the pay-offs, rather than on the issue of 'what did the Wal-mart top executives know and when did they know it?'
What should Wal-mart have done? They should have realized they had a significant ethical - and legal - issue which had to be addressed in a transparent and proactive way. Rather than suppressing the internal investigation, they should have blown the whistle on themselves. That - if the story is accurate- didn't happen. 

It was all so preventable. In our '10 Principles of Effective Crisis Communications' (Overcoming Panic and Fear: Risk and Crisis Communications). No. 7 says: "Get all the bad news out at once - "have a bad day". Instead, Wal-mart may well end up with a bad year. 

Newt Gingrich Quits - Finally
Well, after losing the last five primaries to Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich is finally wrapping it up. Now Mitt Romney is turning his attention to positioning himself vs. the President rather than his Republican adversaries. In his early response, he seems to be satisfied with just criticizing Obama. However, he needs to define himself in a positive, meaningful way that connects with voters. If he can't do that, all the anti-Obama talk just appeals to the core supporters. How does he get to the swing voter? The middle ground? The jury is still out on that.
Obama Slow Jams with Jimmy Fallon
The fusion of politics and entertainment - kissing cousins since the days of Sinatra and Kennedy; Ronald Reagan and...Ronald Reagan; Bill Clinton and Arsenio Hall - is now complete with President Obama's appearance on Jimmy Fallon the other night. It was no doubt successful in connecting with young voters. Will it hurt him among older, swing voters? Has it all gone too far? you be the judge


Win a free copy of the 2012 edition of either Encountering the Media® or Overcoming Panic and Fear! Simply email us your name, contact information and name of organization to info@mcloughlinmedia.com and indicate which 2012 edition pocket tips book you would like to win. We will put the names in a hat and draw the winner. A $25 value!

Until next time....