Crisis Communications in Public Relations

Catalog description

The course is designed to introduce students to organizational risk assessment and protecting an organization's reputation in times of crisis. COMM 373 Crisis Communications in Public Relations (3) All organizations, large or small, face the prospect of a crisis. At best, a crisis is a challenge; at worst, it has the potential to destroy the organization';s ability to conduct business. Nearly half of Fortune 500 companies operate without a crisis communications plan in place, yet there are scores of examples of crises that should serve as a warning to businesses to prepare for the worst. This course is designed to introduce students to organizational risk assessment and how to protect the company's reputation while minimizing the. Students learn to deliver positive media interviews in order to deliver key messages to target publics. In times of crisis, public perception is reality. It is the practitioner's job to be prepared and to act quickly and efficiently in times of crisis and be able to work with the media, not against them. It is also important that practitioners address their audiences with the right messages at the right time. Students will learn how to assemble a crisis communication team, hold a news conference to address a crisis, manage key information, and maintain effective media relations during a time of high anxiety. Students will learn the basic anatomy of a crisis in order to be able to respond with clarity and vision in the heat of a crisis. From product-tampering to oil spills, students will be able to recognize the warning signs of a crisis and identify the five stages of a crisis. In a world connected by the Internet and social media, it's likely the news media will be at the organization's doorstep before the public relations director gets there, and it places enormous pressure on corporate leadership and government leaders to make decisions quicker and respond to media queries as quickly as possible. Successful crisis management begins before a crisis occurs. It is the responsibility of crisis management specialists to see the crisis coming and move to minimize the impact or even relegate the impending crisis to a problem. It is far better to be proactive than reactive. Having a crisis management plan is important, but avoiding a crisis by identifying its weaknesses; identifying the resources the company can use before, during and after a crisis; identifying any perceived threats that can turn into a crisis, and identifying the things that company does well in a crisis can go a long way toward negating long-term negative effects of a crisis.