What Were They Thinking? : : Crisis Communication: The Good, the Bad, and the Totally Clueless / / Steve Adubato.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Rutgers University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Adubato, Steve,
• Place / Publishing House: New Brunswick, NJ : : Rutgers University Press, , [2008]; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (192 p.)

Some corporations spend millions of dollars on so-called "crisis communication plans." Others offer lip service, avoiding the subject like the plague. They simply hope for the best, praying that they never face a crisis. Either way, as Steve Adubato says, "Wishful thinking is no substitute for a strategic plan." Nationally recognized communication coach and four-time Emmy Awardûwinning broadcaster Steve Adubato has been teaching, writing, and thinking about comm¡unication, leadership, and crisis communication for nearly two decades. In What Were They Thinking? Adubato examines twenty-two controversial and complex public relations and media mishaps, many of which were played out in public. Among cases and people discussed are: The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol scare: Perhaps the best crisis management ever Don Imus: Sometimes saying "sorry" is too little too late Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: Authority does not put you above questioning Bill O'Reilly: Know when to stop defending yourself and save face Former EPA Administrator Christie Whitman: Proof that your written words can come back to haunt you Hurricane Katrina: A natural disaster that led to a larger governmental disaster The Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal: Denial won't get rid of the skeletons in your closet Arranged in short chapters detailing each case individually, the book provides a brief history of the topics and answers the questions: Who got it right? Who got it wrong? What can the rest of us learn from them?

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Introduction -- Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol Scare. GETTING IT RIGHT -- The Exxon Valdez Oil Tanker Spill. THE INVISIBLE AND CLUELESS CEO -- The New York Knicks. KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM -- Chaos in a West Virginia Coal Mine. "THEY'RE ALIVE!" -- The Church's Pedophilia Scandal. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET -- Dick Cheney. MISFIRING UNDER PRESSURE -- The Glen Ridge Rape Case. "STAND BY OUR BOYS" -- The Death of Pat Tillman. THE COVER-UP IS ALWAYS WORSE -- Rudy Giuliani. A TALE OF TWO LEADERS -- Christie Whitman and the EPA. COMING CLEAN ON GROUND ZERO -- Prudential's Terror Threat. THE "ROCK" GETS IT RIGHT -- Virginia Tech. A DEADLY DELAY? -- Don Imus. "I CAN'T GET ANYWHERE WITH YOU PEOPLE" -- Jon Corzine. GETTING IT RIGHT...AND GETTING IT WRONG -- Jet Blue Airways. A LATE-NIGHT DISASTER -- The O'Reilly "Factor". KNOWING WHEN TO SHUT UP -- Taco Bell's E. Coli Scare. WHEN GOOD INTENTIONS AREN'T ENOUGH -- The New York Times. COVERING UP FOR JAYSON BLAIR -- The Duke "Rape" Case. A RUSH TO INJUSTICE -- Alberto Gonzales. PAYING THE PRICE FOR PLAYING WITH WORDS -- NFL Boss Roger Goodell. SCORING BIG POINTS UNDER PRESSURE -- FEMA Fails during Katrina. TALK ABOUT "CLUELESS" -- NOTES -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR