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Crisis Management In The Media

CRiSIS Planning And Media COMMUNICATION EXPERTS

The Drill’s crisis management consultants make news headlines: Part of our crisis planning ethos is to try to help businesses shape the developing narrative via judicious media and stakeholder engagement, to take crisis-hit companies from unsafe ground to safer terrain.

Also, when crises break, media journalists/producers often ask Drill experts - all crisis management specialists - to offer insights and observations to boost understanding of the crisis communication issues at play. Our experts have vital international and hands-on crisis management consultancy expertise, which is transferred into our crisis management planning tools and crisis software.

Drawing on years of frontline crisis management consultancy, Drill staff enact crisis fixes and crisis solutions to help businesses overcome their PR and operational problems. Your crisis response plans can be improved just by reading some of the articles below, featuring our proprietary approaches and methodologies for crisis management puzzles. The articles do not constitute specific advice or counsel, but we believe their principles to be, without guarantee, thought-provoking! So when you’re ready for better crisis management planning or preparation, call us.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Crisis Management Needs Crisis Monitoring

Crisis simulation companies say that crisis management begins in peace time. True, but it also starts with excellent intelligence and online media monitoring.

Yet some clients are still only using Google Alerts as their key source of issue and stakeholder monitoring. Google has - for years - admitted the incompleteness of its alerts content detection and notification service. And this could leave your crisis management plans very incomplete.

GOOGLE PRESENTING A FRACTION OF FINDS

Reports by one monitoring technology – Mention – claims Google Alerts may only be finding and presenting around one-tenth of the commentary that accompanies trans-media reportage.

In observing crises, and staging crisis management training, we know the early crisis narrative emerges across social media channels (especially Facebook and Twitter) before being ‘legitimised’ by mainstream news media and, thereafter, infusing search engine finds. Any crisis management consultants will be aware of the ‘story arc’ of modern crises.

Now, if you’re only relying on Google Alerts, you may miss the early ‘heads up’ you need to get ahead of the crisis commentary and curve. By the time the crisis has ‘broken’ across online news media and search, you’re facing an uphill chase to assert your side of the story.

Does your crisis simulation software reinforce all this to your staff and associates?

CRISIS METRICS COUNT

The data you need to access when in crisis planning or crisis management mode may include; audience numbers, key influencers (and their distribution channels), keyword mentions, publishing times, syndication sources and sentiment indicators: Google Alerts just doesn’t offer that depth of insight.

So, is Google Alerts relevant for modern crisis planning?

I’m with those who’d recommend still using it; yet only more as backup tool to a more comprehensive media intelligence dashboard.

If your crisis management capabilities are undermined by your crisis monitoring system, your ability to handle crisis situations could be compromised.

Gerard McCusker