Crisis management and the PRO – Mass Media/Mass Communication for NCET

The essentials

A crisis is a sudden event that threatens an organisation's reputation, operations or people, such as a factory fire, a product recall, a data leak or a serious accident. Crisis management is the planned way an organisation prepares for, responds to and recovers from such events. The Public Relations Officer (PRO) plays a central role as the link between the organisation, the media and the public.

Key points

Before a crisis: prepare a crisis plan, identify risks, form a crisis team and choose one trained spokesperson.
During a crisis: respond quickly, tell the truth, show concern for those affected, give regular updates and speak with one consistent voice.
Avoid "no comment", speculation, blaming others or hiding facts; rumours fill any information gap.
After a crisis: evaluate the response, correct the causes and rebuild trust.
Responsibilities of a PRO: building relations with the media, writing press releases, organising press conferences, monitoring news and public opinion, advising management, communicating with employees and handling crises.
A PRO needs good communication skills, honesty, calmness, tact and a wide network of media contacts.

Exam tips

In case questions, the best answer is usually the one that is quick, honest, caring and consistent. Answers that deny, delay or hide are almost always wrong.

Common mistakes

Silence is not a safe strategy in a crisis; it is often read as guilt and allows rumours to spread.

In crisis communication, an organisation should ideally speak through	Easy
Which is a typical responsibility of a Public Relations Officer?	Easy
Why is replying "no comment" usually a poor choice during a crisis?	Medium
Preparing a crisis plan and selecting a crisis team should be done	Medium
A food company finds that one batch of its product may be contaminated. Which response best reflects good crisis manage…	Hard

The essentials

Key points

Exam tips

Common mistakes

Practice questions