The first point I make when talking about crisis management to businesses and organizations is that bad things happen to good people. It's not in our nature to wake up each day and think about all the bad things that could happen to us. But they do.
An example, and it's a sad one, is the incident this week in Denver where a dog bit 9News morning anchor Kyle Dyer. It all happened live. The dog, named Max had been rescued the day before when it fell through the ice while chasing a coyote of all things. The Denver news pool helicopter covered the rescue. The story was quickly picked up nationally both by traditional media and of course, Social Media. People posted video of the rescue on YouTube. What we call a "Warm and fuzzy" story.
Little did we know.
As a follow-up, 9News invited the dog's owner, the rescuer and the dog to do a live segment which Kyle Dyer hosted. Kyle knelt next to the dog during the interview, petting and scratching the animal. Again, all went well right up to the moment Max bit Kyle in the face. Thankfully she'll recover, but will be off the air for several weeks.
But what started out as warm and fuzzy, ended up no-so-much. People posted video of what happened online.
Bad things happen to good people with good intentions. The response, again, was viral. The 9News Facebook page was flooded with comments, many positive, but many negative towards Kyle. An example that the good thing about Social Media is everyone has access to it, but the bad thing about Social Media is everyone has access to it. Who knew there were so many "experts" on doggy behavior out there? To be fair, most of the comments were of sympathy and good wishes for all.
I think Channel 9's public response was totally professional. Unlike most businesses and organizations, they had a crisis plan in place. When you cover the news, you have to have a crisis plan because bad things often happen when you're least equipped to cover them. News organizations are also in the business of covering news, not being the news. In this case, what happened to Kyle became news.
Everywhere.
9News responded both on-air and via Social Media with the facts. VP and News Director Patti Dennis went on the air to update the latest and again state the facts. Patti is one of the most respected news executives in the industry. That evening, co-anchor Gary Shapiro posted the latest on Kyle's condition on Facebook after visiting her in the hospital. 9News also included a post from the dog's owners on their Facebook page.
As for Max, the dog is in quarantine to make sure there are no health issues and the owner has been cited for not keeping shot records and not keeping the animal on a leash. In the owner's Facebook post he did say the dog's shots were indeed up to date. It looks like that both Kyle and Max will be OK.
All this of course, combined for a bit of a Social Media firestorm. Of those taking sides in all this, some blamed the dog, many blamed Kyle. I've had several clients guest on the morning broadcast and the entire team is very professional and gracious. As for Kyle, she's the same warm and caring person in person that you see on the air. Not a phony bone in her body. She genuinely cared for the animal, but in this case the animal bit her quite severely. Who knows what's in a dog's head after a traumatic experience followed up by studio lights the day after? But it happened.
A good story, covered with the best of intentions with the worst of outcomes. Bad things happen to good people. Then some people with nothing better to do weigh in and say bad things, about the bad thing. At the very least, this will have stations across the country that do pet segments re-thinking how they do them moving forward. Lessons learned.
But his is an object lesson for all of us, regardless if we own a business or run a non-profit. Are you prepared should something bad happen to you? Do you have a crisis plan? If something bad happened to you, how would you handle it? Could you handle it?
Something to ponder when you see all the attention surrounding one news anchor who went from covering the news to being the center of it and ...what everyone is still saying about it days later.
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
An example, and it's a sad one, is the incident this week in Denver where a dog bit 9News morning anchor Kyle Dyer. It all happened live. The dog, named Max had been rescued the day before when it fell through the ice while chasing a coyote of all things. The Denver news pool helicopter covered the rescue. The story was quickly picked up nationally both by traditional media and of course, Social Media. People posted video of the rescue on YouTube. What we call a "Warm and fuzzy" story.
Little did we know.
As a follow-up, 9News invited the dog's owner, the rescuer and the dog to do a live segment which Kyle Dyer hosted. Kyle knelt next to the dog during the interview, petting and scratching the animal. Again, all went well right up to the moment Max bit Kyle in the face. Thankfully she'll recover, but will be off the air for several weeks.
But what started out as warm and fuzzy, ended up no-so-much. People posted video of what happened online.
Bad things happen to good people with good intentions. The response, again, was viral. The 9News Facebook page was flooded with comments, many positive, but many negative towards Kyle. An example that the good thing about Social Media is everyone has access to it, but the bad thing about Social Media is everyone has access to it. Who knew there were so many "experts" on doggy behavior out there? To be fair, most of the comments were of sympathy and good wishes for all.
I think Channel 9's public response was totally professional. Unlike most businesses and organizations, they had a crisis plan in place. When you cover the news, you have to have a crisis plan because bad things often happen when you're least equipped to cover them. News organizations are also in the business of covering news, not being the news. In this case, what happened to Kyle became news.
Everywhere.
9News responded both on-air and via Social Media with the facts. VP and News Director Patti Dennis went on the air to update the latest and again state the facts. Patti is one of the most respected news executives in the industry. That evening, co-anchor Gary Shapiro posted the latest on Kyle's condition on Facebook after visiting her in the hospital. 9News also included a post from the dog's owners on their Facebook page.
As for Max, the dog is in quarantine to make sure there are no health issues and the owner has been cited for not keeping shot records and not keeping the animal on a leash. In the owner's Facebook post he did say the dog's shots were indeed up to date. It looks like that both Kyle and Max will be OK.
All this of course, combined for a bit of a Social Media firestorm. Of those taking sides in all this, some blamed the dog, many blamed Kyle. I've had several clients guest on the morning broadcast and the entire team is very professional and gracious. As for Kyle, she's the same warm and caring person in person that you see on the air. Not a phony bone in her body. She genuinely cared for the animal, but in this case the animal bit her quite severely. Who knows what's in a dog's head after a traumatic experience followed up by studio lights the day after? But it happened.
A good story, covered with the best of intentions with the worst of outcomes. Bad things happen to good people. Then some people with nothing better to do weigh in and say bad things, about the bad thing. At the very least, this will have stations across the country that do pet segments re-thinking how they do them moving forward. Lessons learned.
But his is an object lesson for all of us, regardless if we own a business or run a non-profit. Are you prepared should something bad happen to you? Do you have a crisis plan? If something bad happened to you, how would you handle it? Could you handle it?
Something to ponder when you see all the attention surrounding one news anchor who went from covering the news to being the center of it and ...what everyone is still saying about it days later.
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
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