Crisis Communications: It’s Best to be a Straight Shooter

The current economic crisis has Wall Street in a frenzy, Capitol Hill scrambling in an attempt to save the day, and the average American shaking their head, and rightly their finger, at both.

I knew things were bad when during my morning commute I forewent my morning Top 40 radio station for the Public Radio preset that only gets play when my parents borrow my car. But I really became concerned when I heard Senators and Congressmen talking about working through the weekend, an almost unheard of concept inside the Beltway.

For Public Relations practitioners, Tony Garcia of PRWeek highlights an important lesson to be gained from the flurry of financial company statements released last week- it’s always better to shoot straight from the hip. While President Bush may try to alleviate fears and reduce panic by assuring Americans that the economic situation is not as dire as it seems, companies and their communications teams have a responsibility to both consumers and investors to nix the spin and give it to us straight. As Eric Starkman, president of Starkman & Associates says, financial communicators serve as a “reality check,” no matter how unpleasant that reality may be.

According to Gina Rubel, Esq. President and CEO of Furia Rubel Communications, “while it’s important that corporate attorneys work closely with their clients to ensure the media messages are accurate, it’s important nonetheless to shoot straight from the hip.”