Comm 3310 Crisis Management Semin ar

Review  Lawsuit publicized story before it airs  Food Lion’s demand ABC not show the hidden camera video makes it look as if they have something to hide  Going to local stations after program expands the Prime Time story’s reach and credibility  Local stations rebroadcast claims before allowing a few seconds of rebuttal

PR Team Blamed and Sent to Work in Deli Department

The Right Way  Property evaluate the risk  Don’t over react  Due diligence  What is the story about  Who is the reporter  What program or publication is it for  What is the producer/reporter’s deadline  When will it air or be printed?  Don’t give the story legs

The Right Way  Make reasonable demands  Review the hidden camera video so you can respond in a knowledgeable manner  Ask who is being interviewed so that you can provide any background information that would be helpful  Offer to provide a written statement  Don’t make threats  Do use the term “prior to publication”

The Right Way

If You Give an Interview  Select the right spokesperson  Make sure they have media interview training for this event  Control the situation  Set time limits for interview  Select location  Record the interview

A Better Spokesperson

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers  Employees

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers  Employees  Shareholders

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers  Employees  Shareholders  Regulators

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers  Employees  Shareholders  Regulators  Board of Directors  Lenders

Key Audiences  If people believe the claims by ABC News who can do the most damage to your business?  Customers  Employees  Shareholders  Regulators  Board of Directors  Lenders Assume anything you tell these groups will become public

Who Should Be the Bad Guy?  Buys ink by the ton  You anger means they hit a nerve  To comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable  Media doesn’t like to attack fellow journalists

Who Should be The Bad Guy?

Tools To Respond  Local Newspaper  Local Radio  Double or Triple Coupons  Billboards  Direct Mail

New Tools Available Today  Social Media  Store affinity cards  Track customers and individual purchases and have contact information  Coupons  Local News Media

CEO Apology

Case Drags on For 7 Years  September 1992 – Food Lion Sued ABC News  November Show Airs  April 1993 – Food Lion Continues Lawsuit with new allegations  December Jury trial  December 1996 – Food Lion Wins Lawsuit  February 12, 1997 – ABC Airs Two Additional Shows About the Original Food Lion story  1999 – Appeals court reverses damages won by Food Lion

Press Reaction to Verdict 1997 When the punitive damage award was announced in January 1997, press reaction was swift. It was also divergent. Opinions varied regarding such issues as whether reporters should ever use hidden cameras to get a story; whether reporters should ever use other kinds of deception to get a story; what degree of deception might be appropriate for a reporter; and (apparently) even whether or not using a hidden camera is deceptive. Some press commentary generally defended ABC’s use of undercover newsgathering techniques in the Food Lion case. Commentary criticized ABC’s use of such techniques and was generally critical of hidden cameras or any kind of undercover reporting. Still other press commentary took a middle ground of some sort.

Press Reaction Appeals Court Rejects Damages Against ABC in Food Lion Case By FELICITY BARRINGER Published: October 21, 1999 A divided Federal appeals court yesterday threw out all but $2 of the damages that a jury had ordered ABC News to pay to the Food Lion supermarket chain after it reported that the grocery chain sold beef and other food that was unsanitary. In the majority opinion, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond wrote that Food Lion's attempt to win a multimillion-dollar fraud verdict because two ABC employees had lied their way into jobs in Food Lion stores was ''an end-run'' around First Amendment protections for journalists. In the case, a Federal District Court jury in Greensboro, N.C., awarded the supermarket chain $5.5 million in January 1997 after finding that ABC had engaged in fraud, though that was later reduced to $315,000. The case had been closely followed by news organizations that feared that plaintiffs could win crippling damage awards without having to prove that the news reports in question were false or malicious.

Tom E. Smith Food Lion surprised the industry last week when it announced that Tom E. Smith, who had played a major role in running the company since 1981, would retire, effective immediately.