What damages businesses.
SAYING NOTHING DURING A PROBLEM
Silence is read as concealment, and it is filled with speculation.
RESPONDING BEFORE ESTABLISHING FACTS
Statements contradicted later are worse than a delayed statement.
MINIMISING HARM
It is recognised, and it prolongs the story.
BLAMING OTHERS
It appears evasive, regardless of accuracy.
ATTACKING CRITICS
It creates sympathy for them and becomes the story itself.
LEGAL THREATS AS A FIRST RESPONSE
They escalate attention and end cooperation.
PROMISING WHAT YOU CANNOT DELIVER
The failure is a second, worse story.
LETTING STAFF LEARN FROM OUTSIDE
It damages trust immediately and permanently.
MULTIPLE PEOPLE SPEAKING
Contradiction is the result, and it is quoted.
TREATING JOURNALISTS AS ADVERSARIES
They are doing a job, and hostility is remembered.
ASSUMING ANYTHING IS OFF THE RECORD
Nothing reliably is.
CLAIMING THINGS THAT ARE NOT TRUE
It is checked, and the correction is worse than the original.
CONFUSING ADVERTISING WITH COVERAGE
Buying advertising does not purchase favourable reporting.
IGNORING ONLINE DISCUSSION
It continues without you, and it is what people find.
FIXING COMMUNICATION RATHER THAN THE PROBLEM
The underlying issue produces the next story.
WHAT MOST OF THESE SHARE
An instinct to protect the organisation rather than to be straightforward.
WHY STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS WORKS BETTER
It is what ends stories rather than extending them.
