Fish Bowls

1
Fish Bowls Foul Balls

• NASW Workshop
• October, 2008
• Joann Rodgers
• jrodgers_at_jhmi.edu

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Whats Up?

• Ducks
• Grapes
• Fish
• Snipes
• Parakeets

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(No Transcript)
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When Really Bad Things Happen.

• Response flows from facts
• Institutions/individuals take responsibility
• They commit to correction and correct
• They atone

5
Characteristics of A Mountain

• Its obvious
• Something REALLY is wrong/broken
• Its instantly recognized as news
• Its an energizing process
• It may always be with your institution as part of
  its character.
  
• It results in lasting changes to your
  institution
  

6
Mountains Examples

• Identity theft involving 80,000 patients and
  employees
  
• Death of a research volunteer and OHRP shutdown
  of thousands of clinical trials
  
• Preventable error in death of child Josie King
• Delay/denial of care because of costs

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Characteristics of a Molehill

• Huh?
• No obvious wrongdoing
• Demoralizing
• Frustrating
• Not likely to have institutional payoff for good
  or ill
  
• Straw-man eruption
• Investigatory approach by one news organization
  or one news team
  
• Rarely breaking news
• Issues are often hyper-complex
• Reporting may go on for weeks or months

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Molehills (As viewed from inside)

• Sludge
• ED wait times
• Uganda HIV study
• Lead paint study
• Withdrawn scientific paper

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Molehills

• You cant win (Retracted paper)
• No good deed goes unpunished (Sludge, HIV
  study, Lead paint study)
  
• Theres no there there (ED wait times)

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Response

• Goal Extinction
• We understand your interest... Here are our
  facts.
  
• Answer questions without legitimizing

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What It Takes

• Parenting
• Time
• Consistency
• Patience
• Persistence
• Discipline

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Axioms of Crisis Communications

• Fear, timidity, stonewalling, intellectual
  arrogance and insensitivity will defeat good
  crisis communications. Defeat is usually at the
  hands of insiders, not outsiders.
• The media, your enemies, regulators always know
  less than you do. Knowledge is power, but only if
  you have it and use it. (Corollary outsiders,
  industry groups and the media cant solve your
  problem.)
• The questions that can really hurt you are the
  ones you refuse to answer.
  
• An interview is no place to have an original
  thought.
  
• Most crises can be traced to an incident or
  pattern of incidents that were ignored or
  mishandled. Crises are no time to undertake an
  audit of unrelated incidents. Save that for
  later.
• The job of the media is to notify, not educate
  dont expect patience. The Media will determine
  whether you have an issue or a crisis.
  

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What To Do

• Convene the experts
• Get the facts
• Tell your story first, fast, factually
• TELL THE TRUTH TELL THE TRUTH TELL THE TRUTH
• Ask for questions in writing
• Make response timetables clear to the reporter
  and take all the time you need
  
• Context, context, context
• Respond to first round of questions by written
  text, not interviews.
  
• Prepare your internal and external audiences with
  contingency statements and explainers
  
• Have post-publication responses ready if needed
  letter to the editor, statements by third
  parties, etc
  

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What To Do

• Have ONE spokesperson in the Communications
  office interact with news media to assure fair
  access and consistency.
  
• Do enough internal communication to discourage
  response to reporters calls to those involved,
  leadership, etc.
  
• Extend the lens if the shoe fits other
  institutions, or even industries, say so but
  always give peers a heads up
  
• Work collaboratively if peer institutions are
  targeted with you.

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What To Do

• Develop a communications strategy that fits your
  culture
  
• Involve champions and other stakeholders who may
  be contacted by the reporters by letting them
  know your side.
  
• DONT WHINE
• Define your real audience (patients, families,
  regulators, legislators, referring physicians,
  students, faculty) and dispatch lobbyists and
  others to speak with them about your side.
• Dont acknowledge a crisis or problem that
  needs solving if there isnt one.
  
• Accept the fact of the attention without
  legitimizing it
  

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What To Do

• Stick with it
• Reply to every written question. Answer only
  questions asked for.
  
• Dont be afraid to repeat responses, even if
  questions are posed differently.
  
• Be a good witness but not a chatty one
• Offer interviews ONLY when all of the dimensions
  of the story are clear and your experts are
  trained

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When Is It Over

• When you declare it is (after the 15th request to
  go over the same ground).