181113 ALR-KC PR Workshop Remarks, “CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS AND REPUTATION MANAGEMENT – CRISIS IDENTITY”

LaTonya Taylor’s WHEATON CLASS – CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS AND REPUTATION MANAGEMENT – CRISIS IDENTITY

November 13, 2018, 7 PM

(5 minutes) Career trajectory: What your journey has been like since graduation, and how you came to be where you are. How did you decide to start ALR Communications? What has it been like to build your own company?

Larry Ross bio/into

· My Agency colleague, Kristin Cole, and I are honored to be with you tonight.

· And, we’re grateful to Professor Taylor for her invitation to share our communications experience your Crisis PR/Reputations Management class, for which tonight’s focus in “Crisis Identification.”

I. Introduction

· My Agency colleague, Kristin Cole, and I are honored to be with you tonight.

· And, we’re grateful to Professor Taylor for her invitation to share our communications experience your Crisis PR/Reputations Management class, for which tonight’s focus in “Crisis Identification.”

Personal

· I am a 1976 Graduate of Wheaton College.

· I, personally, will be forever grateful for my Christian Liberal Arts education.

· With the hindsight of my own personal experience in the ivy halls, where I crammed four years into five, I want to challenge you to attend every class, commit your spare hours to the library, shun the opposite sex, pursue extra credit, and think seriously about your future.

· Because, I didn’t do any of that, and there is no telling how far I could have gone if I had.

· As one who double-majored in Biology and Economics, but spent more than four decades as a “PR Guy,” I am the poster child for a liberal arts education…

· Furthermore, I grew up in Wheaton, and am one of the few people you will meet who went farther to grade school, now Jinx Hall, than college. They had to raze my boyhood home in order to build the Billy Graham Center, which also houses the Grad School, where my father taught New Testament.

· Ironically, for more than 33 years, I had the opportunity to handle media and public relations for Dr. Billy Graham -- personally, for his crusades and corporately for the BGEA. It has been a privilege to have a small part in the ministry of one of God’s great servants.

· But that was not something I planned, rather it was due to the sovereignty and providence of God. While most of my classmates were graduating “Magna cum Laude,” I graduated “Laude How Come.” But I have been suiting up and showing up ever since, and leave the rest to the Lord.

· Having a professional involvement in ministry – where the product is changed lives -- has been very fulfilling to me. While we have to be even more professional than our secular counterparts to overcome stereotypes, I see our role as every bit as much ministry as anything else our clients do, as we are able to help extend the influence of Christian leaders such as Dr. Graham, and extend the impact of their organizations.

Secular Experience

· Prior to working in the religious arena for the past 38 years, I cut my teeth on the hard edges of corporate and agency national consumer public relations – first on the General Motors public relations staff, where I traveled across the country doing high school assembly presentations, and representing the corporation in the media.

I left GM for New York, where I worked for the Creamer, Dickson, Basford Agency, which was then the eighth largest PR firm in the country. Among other responsibilities, I handled the media positioning for Joe DiMaggio.

In 1981, I went from representing a sports icon to a faith icon, evangelist Billy Graham. That led to a niche at the intersection of faith and culture, and now nearly 25 years ago, my wife and I took what she calls a “Bungee Jump for God,” and we started our own eponymously named firm at the intersection of faith and culture.

We help clients tell their stories in the context of traditional news values that media need in order to communicate with their audiences.

Sometimes our role is pro-active, often reactive – increasingly involves crisis communications or reputation management.

· ALRC client roster is diverse

o Founded on Billy Graham but now work with ministry leaders from Rick Warren, JD Greear to Tony Perkins

o Working with major book publishers to position authors and books within the news cycle: currently working with Wheaton’s own Jamie Aten, Sandi Patty, Joni Eareckson Tada, Lisa Leonard and Jim Garlow, to name a few

o Advocacy groups such as Bill Frist’s Hope Through Healing Hands and ministries including LiveBeyond in Haiti, The M3ND Project, Autumn Miles Ministry, 40 Days for Life, SOF Missions and Answers in Genesis

· Approximately 25-30 percent of clients are of a crisis nature – a number of national and global organizations, Christian Colleges and churches; we work behind the scenes to provide consultation, strategy and messaging

· Perhaps you are not aware that crisis PR is first mentioned in the Bible, practiced during the time of Moses.

· MOSES JOKE:

Ø Engineer: Build a bridge – six months

Ø Lawyer: -- Lease fishing boats – six weeks

Ø PR Man: If it works I can guarantee you two pages in the Old Testament

Kristin Cole bio

· Nashville, Tennessee native and graduate of Union University

· One of those rare people who majored in what I now practice – degree in communications and public relations

· I interned with and then was hired after graduation by a boutique PR firm in Franklin, Tennessee specializing in secular golf, fashion and book clients

· I moved to the DFW area in 2006 and joined ALRC as an Account Executive

· Moved into Management of Account Services in 2009

(5 minutes) Respective roles: How you interact with others in the firm. What does a typical day look like for you?

Larry Ross

· President – ALR style of PR – now a great team

· Day-to-day – strategy and new business – agency representation

· Fellowship – faith diplomacy EGYPT, Jordan n UAE, Saudi Arabia

· Speaking engagements / leader meetings (reference recent UAE and Saudi Arabia trip)

Larry – time on the campaign trail

· Day-to-day operations

· YouTube and SnapChat influence in the spin room

Three takeaways:

· The extent to which media can marginalize or demonize anybody.

o Fake news – Iowa

o MSNBC Political Editor and NY Primaries

· Commoditization of the electorate – decisions made in smoke filled rooms

o Super Tuesday – only four, not five candidates posted

· Changing media landscape

§ If it is not up on Twitter in a nanosecond, you are behind –no time to write a news release

§ Two most influential media in the spin room (our of 1800

Kristin Cole

· Serve as Vice President of Account Services

· I see my role as helping our team get the right message to the right people at the right time

· We take a team approach at ALRC and work to strategically implement the PESO model, making sure paid, earned, shared and owned media strategies are working together

· My primary role is to manage our account team of 6 leads who are working with clients on a daily basis but I also manage several accounts including I Am Second, Joel C. Rosenberg, Jay Lowder and “The Dream King”

· There is no “typical day” – work can consist of reviewing client materials (releases, op-eds, etc.), strategizing with AEs, participating in client calls/meetings or pitching

· Further, I serve with Larry and Kerri on the executive team to coordinate new business and crisis communications

· So, a portion of my day could include a new business inquiry call or writing or reviewing a proposal or working on strategy and messaging for a crisis client

(25 minutes) “War Stories”: Stories that involved the intersection of faith and PR. What kinds of ethical and/or moral quandaries have you needed to work through?

Kristin – Evolution of Ethics

Recently attended a luncheon hosted by the PRSA of Dallas and heard Fred Cook, Director of USC Center for Public Relations, discuss the 2018 report on the Evolution of Ethics

· The USC Center for Public Relations asked PR leaders from agencies and corporations around the globe to predict where the communications field is headed

· There were a lot of fascinating statistics:

o An overwhelming amount of PR experts (60% agency and 55% in-house) expect considerable change in the PR industry in the next five years

o 53% of students believe their courses have prepared them for change

o The top three factors believed to drive the change?

o Changing media landscape (87%)

o Technological innovations (82%)

o Greater access to data (77%)

o Top five skills believed PR pros need for success:

o Strategic planning (89%)

o Leadership (84%)

o Written communications

o Social media

o Multimedia content development

o In five years, 64% of PR pros agree that the average person will not be able to make a distinction between paid, earned, shared and owned media when consuming information and 59% agree the average person will not care that they aren’t clearly distinguishable

· But, perhaps the most interesting as it relates to what we do came to the stats on ethics:

o The top five most potential ethical problems for the PR industry, many of which apply to crisis communications:

o Distribution of fake news

o Purposeful distortion of truth

o Defense of malicious behavior

o Lack of corporate transparency

o Counseling of controversial clients

o 82% of all organizations, individuals and governments have a right to PR counsel BUT 95% said there are organizations, individuals or governments they would personally not represent or work for due to ethical concerns

o Finally, on an industry specific basis, tobacco (79%) and fire-arms (74%) top the list of areas most PR professionals worldwide associate with having considerable ethical issues but not far behind are political candidates (60%) and religious organizations (50%).

Larry – Crisis Communications

📷

· Many of these ethical issues stem from a clash between faith and culture or colliding worldviews. Specifically, they stem from the question of: What is truth?

· Crisis communication deals with two main factors: impressions and perceptions; perception is made up of emotion plus facts.

· For the most part, especially when crisis involves a human element, there is almost always two sides of the truth.

· Because of this, crisis PR is not a proper and above-board Yale debate. Rather, it is guerilla warfare in the jungle of public opinion.

· Just as lawyers represent us in court and doctors handle our medical emergencies, a good outside crisis consultant can supply professional objectivity and experience in the face of a corporate crisis.

Larry / Kristin – Case Studies

PASSION OF THE CHRIST

LOST TOMB OF JESUS

NUMEROUS BILLY GRAHAM EXAMPLES

FELLOWSHIP – C STREET

· Rick Warren after Hurricane Katrina / Hurricane Harvey

o Rick traveled to ground zero to meet with local pastors and discuss how they could rally together to serve victims of the hurricanes

o We were able to share the good news behind the bad news and proactively communicate a positive story of the community coming together

· CURE International Shooting in Kabul

o CURE Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, was the site of a shooting.

o Three individuals, including a doctor who served at the hospital, were killed, and two others were injured.

o The shooter, who was not an employee of CURE, has been identified as a member of the security detail assigned to the hospital, shot himself after the attack.

o Action steps

Ø Had to quickly assess the facts across time zones – shooter wasn’t an employ, status of victims, etc.

Ø Had to disseminate information first to worldwide CURE staff who were hearing about the news through the media; reminded them not to make a comment to the media and assured them more information from the CEO president was forthcoming

Ø Had to assess media assets – b-roll and headshots of the deceased, information on the doctor who died and his work with CURE

Ø Had to determine who was the spokesperson (to speak with one voice) and his availability; in this case, it was the CURE President Dale Brantner who was located in Nazareth at the time

Ø Coordinated media interviews with a number of international outlets: AP, NBC, CBS, CBN, CNN, FOX, Religion News Service, WORLD Magazine and Christianity Today

Ø Drafted an op-ed by Dale to help shift from the tragedy of the shooting to the good work CURE continues to do

· Matthew Warren’s suicide

o Rick and Kay Warren’s 27-year-old son who had suffered from mental health issues for decades committed suicide

o Action steps:

Ø The news came on a Saturday morning in early April. Knowing the police report could be seen by local media, we had to work quickly to communicate to internal audiences

Ø We assisted Rick in drafting an email to share the news with his congregation in a way that balanced need to know details with a respect for privacy

Ø We took the information from the church email and created a per-inquiry media statement

Ø We acted as the liaison for the hundreds of media requests that began to pour in once the news was out

Ø We used the per-inquiry media statement as the official response and did not accept interview requests though we tracked all requests

Ø Media statements were updated as new information became available such as the memorial service details

Ø Had to navigate rumors and individuals who wanted to politicize Matthew’s death – i.e. TMZ asking if Matthew was gay and that is why he committed suicide, gun control advocates inquiring about how he obtained a fire-arm

Ø Coordinate on-site media for Rick’s first Sunday back in the pulpit at the end of July; offered live feed but no interviews

Ø At ALRC’s recommendation, the Warrens decided in September they would finally speak publicly through one national broadcast television interview and one print interview

Ø After weighing options from numerous national outlets, they chose a one-hour sit-down interview with Piers Morgan on CNN and a interview with People magazine

· Church dealing with #MeToo allegation more than 20 years ago

o A woman came forward to accuse a pastor of misconduct more than 20 years ago when he was serving at another church

o Unfortunately, the church did not approach us until this accusation had already come to light and the church mentioned it to their congregation. There were mistakes made in the announcement to the church. In an effort to be sincere and support the pastor, the church came across as insensitive to the victim.

o On the flipside, the church where the pastor formerly worked (and at which the incident occurred) hired another firm and immediately took action to place his supervising leaders on probation while they investigated the allegations. Therefore, this church was seen as supportive to the victims.

o By the time the church approached ALRC, there was already an abundance of negative media stories and social media posts.

o Action steps:

Ø ALRC immediately met with leadership to learn all details of the allegations. ALRC encouraged full disclosure though many of these details were never communicated to the public.

Ø We sought to develop a communication plan that balanced grace and truth – truth of what happened but grace in relation to misinformation that was being shared by advocates for the accuser.

Ø We monitored the media stories and social media posts and developed a Q&A to be sent to congregants that addressed the common questions individuals had with carefully worded answers, all of which were vetted by the church’s attorney.

Ø We also encouraged the church to place the accused pastor on leave and hire a third-party independent investigator to look into the accusations. Once done, we communicated this as a proactive step.

· Christian School Leadership Change (Bethesda)

o Three weeks into a new school year, a K-12 private Christian church-based school dismissed its longtime headmaster after disagreements over the future of the school

o The decision was made after many months of tension between the headmaster and leaders of the church; the church sought to make it work and communicated this to parents the previous semester but the announcement of her decision came suddenly and without warning for parents

o A group of parents who were loyal to the headmaster began a concerted campaign using social media to protest the decision and pressure church leaders to reinstate the headmaster

o Once again, ALRC was not brought in until after the decision was made and the first communication given to parents; this consisted of a very short and to the point message vetted by lawyers but lacking the empathy and prayerfulness necessary.

o Additionally, the school was deleting negative comments on Facebook, which was simply inciting the minority of angry parents even further and presenting the perception that the school was controlling

o Action steps:

Ø ALRC immediately met with leadership to learn all details of the situation and the past issues that led up to the decision. During this, we recommended they turn comments back on Facebook and post a Facebook policy alerting commenters to the fact they would remove any comments that included obscene or indecent material, offensive remarks, angry or aggressive behavior, profanity or vulgar language, and misleading or fraudulent claims.

Ø ALRC drafted a second communication that attempted to further explain the reasons for the decision, without violating human resources privacy, and vision casted for the future of the school. This was sent via email to parents.

Ø We monitored social media for questions individuals were asking and created two Q&As, which were posted to the school’s website.

Ø During this time, a group of parents supporting the headmaster developed a website claiming the school was lying and posting a manifesto of issues. Additionally, they sought out media coverage from a local TV station (which conducted an interview with the headmaster but never aired it), and continued negative social media posts.

Ø As the school’s current leadership had private one-on-one conversations with parents, they realized it was helping to create parental support from those who were unsure, therefore, ALRC advised that rather than continue to communicate via email, they set up a series of small meetings of 20-30 parents allowing a time to have a thoughtful discussion and answer questions.

Ø ALRC prepared message points for each meeting and provided spokesperson training to teach leadership how to pivot to their key messages.

Ø The school coordinated meetings over the course of a week. After each meeting, feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Afterward, parents began to come to the support of the school on social media, drowning out negative comments.

(10 minutes) Guiding Principles: What does PR as a strategic management function look like at ALR?

Kristin – a changing environment and crisis communications

· PR has changed in the nearly 25 years since the agency was founded

o Increase in the tools used, though the message is still the foundation

o Increase in need for crisis planning, reputation management and crisis communications implementation – colliding world views

· It can take years to build a good reputation but only a moment to destroy or lose one

· No one is immune to crises; even honest institutions can no longer assume they have the public’s trust or the security of a solid reputation

· Every company or organization must anticipate potential and inevitable crises and prepare to control damage, redirect negative momentum, leverage problems to its advantage and move challenges to opportunities

· There is an old PR axiom that says, “It’s not that people don’t know so much, but that they know so much that ain’t so;” we work to reframe the “ain’t so”

· Henry Kissinger once said, “A problem ignored is a crisis invited.”

· Bad news doesn’t go away or get better if it is ignored; rather, it often gets worse over time and stories grow bigger when reporters have to dig them out.

· Getting in front of a potentially damaging story is the best way to manage it. The key to crisis management is for an organization to take the initiative, and not be forced into a reactive position.

· Preparation is key but when crisis does hit, it is important to remember three things:

o Time is of the essence

o 24 hours a day

o If you don’t communicate, others will and you risk being defined by them

o Words matter

o Every word must be reviewed

o Every word must be truthful

o sometimes in a crisis situation, not everything is black and white; our job is often helping others see the brightest shade of gray

o You must speak to the people, not the situation

o Those with a critical need to know

o Those who must respond

o Those who must comment

Larry – Saving the Baby

· NEW SUIT.

· RAIN STORM.

· KNOCKING A WOMAN TO PAVEMENT.

· BABY CARRIAGE CAREENING TOWARDS INTERSECTION.

· The primary task is “saving the baby.”

(15 minutes) Q&A

Q. (Lauren Rowley) How does being a distinctly Christian PR firm influence your work? Do you have to turn down clients for religious reasons?

§ We see our work as ministry – Kingdom impact

§ Nothing wrong with selling soap but work is more fulfilling when there are changed lives

§ Baskin Robbins analogy

§ Will work with anyone we’ll be in heaven with

§ KC can share story about marijuana advocacy new biz call

Q. (Ruth Lin) What are some specific strategies you use that set you apart from non-Christian firms?

§ Excellence driven – we strive to be excellent PR practitioners, excellent at client relations and excellent at meeting client objectives

§ We have the added component that we support our clients and our work with prayer and make decisions driven by the Lord

§ We do believe we see the Lord’s favor in serving our clients and getting results

§ Suit up and show up and let the Lord do the rest

ALR

OUR MISSION

· Paradigm shifts in the media and our market require a new understanding of our mission as practitioners.

· Two weeks ago, “PR Week,” one of the top industry trade publications did a story titled, “When Your Client is God.”

In addition to a lengthy round-up story, the magazine listed me on the cover with the quote of the week, saying, “…I’m aware that I’m representing the Kingdom of God as well as my clients.”

· The idea is not to reduce religion to yet another special interest group in the public arena competing against other groups. What we need is a greater understanding of the obvious and subtle ways in which religion informs and affects our public and personal lives.

According to Harold Burson, founder of Burson-Marsteller:

“Public relations involves advancing information in the public forum for the purpose of contributing to public opinion.”

We need to reorient our thinking away from merely focusing on publicity in terms of pounds of press clippings. Rather, it is the extent to which you are able to influence public opinion for your organization or cause.

Public relations is the goal, various communication techniques are the tools, but public opinion is the strategy, the lever, the means.

Q. (Andy Berumen) How was working alongside Billy Graham as his principle spokesperson? Did he keep your firm busy or not? Did you feel prepared at the time of accepting the position to work with him?

§ (Larry – this is all you)

§ Not two Billy Graham’s – same in person as on tv or at crusades

§ Three words – integrity, humility, authenticity (and leadership with love)

§ Not to take away from preaching, but his distinctive was ability to make positive points for the Gospel in any media situation, emphasizing:

o Ministry, not marketing

o Pastoral, not political

o Advocacy for the Christian faith, not activism

Showing how the Bible speaks to personal and societal problems

Q. (Justine Chang) What are some well-known and good companies to work with in terms of PR and Comm that are located in Texas (Irving area)? Do you enjoy working in Texas? Is it hard to find employment there in this field? What are some interview tips you would give to post-grad students?

§ Many global headquarters from Dr. Pepper/Snapple, Pepsi Co, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Make-a-Wish (specifically in Irving).

§ Also a number of ministries here – the Hope Center (I Am Second, Hope for the Heart, East-West Ministries), Buckner International, large churches.

§ Many opportunities – check out DFWCommunicators.com for opportunities.

§ Seek out internships.

Q. (Bailey Benes) With a mission of “restoring faith in media,” has the current light in which media has been portrayed changed the way you do business or work with clients? Do you feel a new sense of responsibility to provide value-added PR with Christian principles?

§ ALR

o Project identity rather than manufacture an image

o Power of story

o Tell the truth and do the right thing – first in, not most important

§ Kristin

§ I’m not sure it has changed our work but it has reinforced the need to be above reproach and offer excellence.

§ Also, finding legitimate and trusted media reporters is important and we can help clients with that.

Q. (Piper Curda) How have you found that the typically negative connotations associated with PR and your distinctly Christian approach have conflicted? What are the ways in which you attempt to reconcile this with clients and the public?

§ We have found a negative connotation with both a ministry hiring a PR firm but more so for a ministry, church or faith-based entity to hire a firm in a crisis situation.

§ We seek to reinforce the value of a third-party perspective in a crisis and also how we can help balance a message of grace and truth.

§ We understand the Christian community and what values are important to them. Therefore, we are able to help message that, especially in a crisis situation.

Q. (Heather Hollinger) Has your upward mobility in the PR field made your role more complicated or more simple? Are there aspects of your any past roles that you wish were still part of your occupation today?

§ We are certainly afforded great opportunities because of our past clients and work.

§ We have seen a huge shift in communications roles and do miss the opportunity to truly cultivate relationships and work with media on thoughtful, in-depth pieces. The current click-bait, fast=paced media environment in which we live has somewhat taken that away.

§ Additionally, while technology has made our job easier in many ways, it has also complicated it. It is much harder to monitor all conversations and anyone can be a reporter and share a message – good or bad.

Q. (Andy Harrell) Do you find it easier to work in a Christian PR firm in Plano, TX? Does the location alleviate some of the pressure and scrutiny one would face in other areas of the country? (I am from McKinney and from my experience, the area is very conducive and encouraging to one’s faith at home and in the workplace.)

§ Being based in Texas, we are certainly in a faith-friendly environment but most of our clients are outside of this area.

§ We certainly see differing acceptance of or reception toward faith-based organizations and messages in different parts of the country.

SLIDE 12 WHAT IS NEWS? (summary of below)

For those of you who attended the first Faith-Based Summit, I shared a definition of news from Reuven Frank, former President, NBC News, who recently passed away. It conveys some important dynamics we need to review:

A DEFINITION OF NEWS

News is about change. For something to become or qualify as news, it must happen; it may not merely exist. From time-to-time a continuing situation becomes news because it escaped attention until that time. In such cases, the news is the discovery. What happened is that somebody found out.

News is change as seen by an outsider. He may like it or dislike it, but does not consider himself a part of it. He tries to see and talk about what he has seen without reference to whether he likes it or dislikes it. That is the key to professional journalism or journalism as a profession. In this the reporter is never entirely successful. He is a person and not a thing.

All news involves only human beings and their fallibilities -- including the participants, the reporters, the audience.

News is change as seen by an outsider on behalf of other outsiders. These are the people the reporter reports for the viewers, the hearers, the readers. When they are participants, they often tend to dislike the report, usually complaining it is incomplete. They do not mean it did not tell them everything they wanted to know, because they already know everything they want to about what happened. They took part in it. They mean it did not tell other people, the outsiders, what the insiders wanted to be known. But an insider in one situation will be an outsider in all others, and in those outside situations the news he gets is about as much as he wants or is interested in. Otherwise we should not stay in business.

News is change that is interesting. If it is uninteresting it cannot be news. It cannot be news to anyone who is uninterested because he will not watch or listen or read. Importance does not make news, although if enough of the audience thinks something is important that makes it interesting and therefore news.