Unguarded comments can cause huge headaches for spokespeople, comms teams and organisations.
There are plenty of examples of off-the-cuff comments in media interviews and speeches causing brands to go into crisis media management mode.
Who can forget the boss of Oxfam telling a journalist that ‘it is not like we murdered babies’ at the height to the charities sex scandal earlier this year or?
Or, most famously of all, Gerald Ratner managing to wipe £500m from the value of his jewellery firm with his ‘total crap’ comments during a speech at the UK Institute of Directors?
And now we can add podcasts to the list of formats which have tripped-up high-profile people.
Australian Rugby League team Cronulla Sharks found itself staring at some particularly uncomfortable media coverage this week after two of its players appeared as guests on a podcast alongside two UFC fighters.
Andrew Fifita gave an expletive-laden interview (more of a rant really) which also saw him use a derogatory term to describe a prominent Sydney journalist. His team mate Josh Dugan joined in the criticism of the reporter.
The podcast appears to be little more than four men having a relaxed chat in a living room and that is perhaps why the players let their guard down.
But, being a podcast, which is also published as a video on YouTube, those damaging comments were always going to go beyond the confines of that room.
Not only did it result in warnings and reprimands for the players, but it also led to some damaging coverage both for them, their club and the sport.
Here’s a flavour of the headlines:
Fifita cops formal warning over foul-mouthed podcast attack The Australian
NRL forward caught up in controversy over ‘vile’ podcast Today
Cronulla issue official warning to controversial prop Andrew Fifita over for his expletive laden rant Daily Telegraph
And as these tweets show the story was picked up widely by broadcast media:
'He's a f***wit': Andrew Fifita reprimanded over vulgar rant about journo.
— 7Sport (@7Sport) August 23, 2018
FULL STORY: https://t.co/cMSVcJjhpo pic.twitter.com/GOcTisghUH
Andrew Fifita has been given a written warning by Cronulla after a foul-mouthed rant against a journalist. The Sharks admit it's a bad look, but team-mates believe off-field dramas actually bring the best out of the damaging forward. #TenNews @bencehamerli pic.twitter.com/svdVVo2P7O
— TEN News Sydney (@TenNewsSydney) August 23, 2018
At his angry best Andrew Fifita is a match-winner for Cronulla. But there's a selfish, disrespectful side to their power forward that could derail a whole season. @breenie9 #9News pic.twitter.com/sy2XXYaQZy
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 23, 2018
Hopefully it is unlikely that your spokesperson would use the same ‘vulgar’ language as that used in this example, but this story shows how anything they say can spread rapidly, no matter how small the publication, broadcaster or podcast might be.
This particular podcast interview was apparently not sanctioned by the club, which clearly adds another complexity to the situation.
So how can organisations avoid finding themselves in this situation and what can they do when a media storm is caused by something a spokesperson or representative has said?
1) Be prepared – make sure you have a crisis media management plan in place because off-the-cuff and unguarded comments have the potential to trigger a crisis.
2) Make sure spokespeople and high-profile representatives are aware of the power of social media and how quickly bad news and ill-judged remarks can travel.
3) Diary events – make sure you know where and when your senior leaders and other spokespeople will be speaking, even if there is not expected to be any media present. Also make sure they know the importance of telling the comms team about any interviews, even it is a small or niche outlet.
4) Practice – ask your executive team and spokespeople to run through any public statements they will be making and suggest changes if necessary.
5) Media training – make sure your bosses and employees likely to be in the spotlight have had media training and presentation training and that other employees have a good understanding of how the media works. It may prevent them from making the comments in the first place. If not, they will need the skills to handle the media afterwards.
6) Act quickly – as with any crisis media management situation, get your messages out quickly. Even if your initial statements are short and lack detail they will at least show you are in control.
7) Apologise and take action – be honest and admit when a mistake has been made and show that you have taken steps to ensure it will not happen again.
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