You might have been expecting us to look at Jeremy Corbyn’s interview with Andrew Neil in today’s media training blog and perhaps discuss whether it was more of a disaster than Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview.
But, as Mr Neil still has a few more of the political leaders to scrutinise, it is probably best that we hold fire on that one for now.
Instead, we want to look at how an organisation has dealt with a sensitive crisis communication incident focusing on a prominent employee scandal.
The Calgary Flames ice hockey team has found itself in the media spotlight after allegations of racism were made against its head coach Bill Peters.
Akim Aliu, a Nigerian-born player, tweeted on Monday that the coach had directed the ‘N word’ word towards him in the dressing room when they were both at another club a decade ago.
He also said that when he rebelled against Mr Peters, he was sent to play in a lower league.
The allegations were made as the Flames played a match with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
And after the match, the club’s general manager Bill Treliving spoke to the media and gave a good example of providing a holding statement.
He told the media: “We’re aware of a tweet from former player Akim Aliu.
“And obviously, we’re playing, so I haven’t had the chance to sit down with Bill or our people internally to talk about this and get to the bottom of it. We take these matters very, very seriously.
“We will address it and get back to you."
A statement from #Flames GM Brad Treliving. pic.twitter.com/Glm8DTFolq
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) November 26, 2019
Apart from referring to the media as ‘you people’ on two occasions, this was a good holding statement.
It shows that the organisation is aware of the allegations, that it is taking those accusations seriously and hints at action being taken to investigate the matter.
And that is all the media really expect in the early stages of a crisis media management incident –journalists do not expect an organisation to have all the answers and information immediately, but they do want to know that an organisation is aware of the incident.
The key is to ensure you keep the media regularly informed once you have given your holding statement.
And Mr Treliving did that, providing an on-camera update to the media the following day.
He said: “I want to update everyone on what has taken place since last night.
“During our game with Pittsburgh, we were made aware of a social media tweet from Akim Aliu.
“Allegations of this nature we take very seriously. This is a subject matter which has no place in our organisation.
“Throughout the evening and into this morning we were starting an investigation into the incident. We have not completed that, but we are trying to be as transparent as possible and update you.
“Geoff Ward is running our practice here today and Bill will remain at the hotel. He’s not been relieved of his duties.
“We are continuing with this ongoing investigation. We hope to have it completed quickly but it has to be thorough and done correctly.
“I am not about to comment on anything half-way through, give titbits or sound bites at this point, other than to say that the serious nature of this is not lost on us. We take it with extreme seriousness.”
#Flames General Manager Brad Treliving just told us Head Coach Bill Peters has not been relieved of his duties at this time. Team continues to investigate allegations. pic.twitter.com/LSxKY1XLa1
— Derek Wills (@Fan960Wills) November 26, 2019
Apart from the part about not commenting and giving sound bites, which he didn’t need to say and sounded defensive, that was a good update.
There is a clear message that the allegations are being taken seriously and there is more evidence of action with some more details about the investigation. There is also some reassurance that there is no place for this sort of behaviour in the team.
A further statement later on Tuesday revealed that Mr Peter would not be on the bench for the next match, which again shows some action.
On our crisis communication training courses, we use the CARE acronym to show how organisation should communicate during a crisis.
- COMPASSION: You need to show the audience that you understand the severity of what has happened and the impact it has had.
- ACTION: Outline what your organisation has already done and is doing to deal with the crisis.
- REASSURANCE: Put the incident into context and show it is isolated.
- EXAMPLES: Use examples to illustrate the key message you want to get across.
The Calgary Flames response has so far lacked the examples, but there has been plenty of compassion and action and some reassurance and that has given it some control of the story so far.
*Download our FREE eBook to find out more about planning for a crisis. It includes a checklist to helping you identify the right spokesperson, messaging templates and a risk register to help you identify your organisation’s vulnerabilities.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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