crisis communication – The New BrianSiguenza.com

This week’s class topic is about sports teams and crisis communication. And wouldn’t you know it? A public relations crisis is exactly what’s brewing now with a sports team twenty-five miles down the road from me. To fill you in, former members of the University of Iowa football team who are of the African-American race recently took to social media to share instances of being treated differently within the program because of the color of their skin. Chris Doyle, the Hawkeyes’ longtime strength and conditioning coach, was named specifically as an aggressor in the accounts. This weekend, he was placed on administrative leave by the program, pending an investigation (Fornelli, 2020).

Here’s where we get to do a little role play: for this post, we must act as if we are part of the athletics department at Iowa and the information is just coming in. At the outset, we have to think like journalists and the general public and determine the points that will most likely need addressing. The first obvious question here would be, what is Hawkeye Football doing about the accusations levied by its former black players? Given the situation that the United States is currently in with regards to racial discrimination, minimizing the concerns would be a grave mistake. A crisis plan could then look something like this.

Situation: Former players say they were not treated respectfully during their time at Iowa.

Crisis Communication Plan:

We’ve already identified the situation, so the next step is to bring in the staff person in charge of crisis communication.
The administrator, as they’re called, will compile what is known about the situation then assemble the crisis communication team.
A conference will take place to determine the next steps and who will carry them out.
The response is planned (Special Olympics, n.d.).

External communications in the response should include a traditional press release to the media, a website post and e-mail to fans and donors, and social media content. Now the media and the public will have their own reaction to the response, which may be negative. Here’s how we would prepare for that.

Situation: Fans are unhappy with the response to the incident.

Crisis Communication Plan:

Administrators must decide whether the reaction warrants further intervention. If it does, the steps in the first situation should be implemented.
It may be necessary to conduct news conferences to provide additional developments on the situation, plus more external communication like e-mails. Only those employees authorized to speak on the matter should do so.
Decide whether visuals will be needed for communication purposes. The images must be of an appropriate nature.
Consider further initiatives that demonstrate the concerns of the community are being heard (University of South Florida, n.d.).

Last, we anticipate that a conclusion will eventually be reached on the future of Chris Doyle, one way or the other. Based on past experiences, this is how that will be handled.

Situation: Administration is ready to announce Chris Doyle’s status.

Crisis communication plan:

The crisis communication team will notify the media of an impromptu news conference, to be held at a specific time in a specific location. News organizations will carry the event live via traditional broadcast and web streaming.
The information will be sent in a news release to media plus shared with the general public through the athletics website, social media, and e-mail.
Hold a final meeting with the administration and crisis communication team to evaluate the methods used and revise as needed (University of South Florida, n.d.).

These are very basic–and interchangeable–steps for the University of Iowa to take, and they already have through the release of a statement from head coach Kirk Ferentz, posted below. Still, there will be much more to come on this in the days ahead.

This is a defining moment for the Iowa Hawkeye Football program: pic.twitter.com/ckEH39QVki
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020

Hawkeye Football on Twitter

References

Fornelli, T. (2020, June 7). Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle refutes allegations of negative experiences made by former players. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/iowa-strength-coach-chris-doyle-refutes-allegations-of-negative-experiences-made-by-former-players/

Special Olympics. (n.d.). Crisis communications. [PDF File]. Retrieved from http://media.specialolympics.org/soi/files/resources/Communications/Guides/CrisisCommunicationPlan.pdf

University of South Florida. (n.d.). Crisis communications. [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://www.usf.edu/pdfs/Crisis-Communication-Plan.pdf

Now that it’s been a couple of weeks since the Super Bowl, we can begin the transition from the gridiron to the baseball diamond. And we find the major leagues in a difficult moment right now, with much of the news centered around findings that the Houston Astros employed sign-stealing methods en route to their World Series title in 2017. The fallout from these actions has been described by public relations experts and sportswriters alike as a crisis for MLB. By their accounts, commissioner Rob Manfred has handled the situation rather clumsily. Writes John Feinstein in the Washington Post, “Right from the beginning, MLB has botched this investigation, from the blanket immunity it gave players to Manfred’s refusal to…tak(e) the 2017 World Series title and trophy away from the Astros.”

As the head of a professional sports organization, it is perhaps inevitable that Rob Manfred would be subjected to fierce criticism of his decisions. But how do other leaders avoid the same kind of scorn from the public and the press? The answer, say Lussier & Achua (2016), is very simple: the leader must get in front of the situation and be able to communicate effectively with all parties. This includes the public, the media, and especially with employees in the organization.

Ideally, the firm will have a plan already in place for dealing with scenarios that are at best embarrassing and at worst have deadly consequences. They’ve assembled a team, determined possible threats to operations, and created an outline for publicly dealing with these threats (Lussier & Achua, 2016). Given the ability to react in real-time on social media now, as people did when Astros players apologized during a news conference, it is not unreasonable for organizations to implement so-called “safety measures” that protect their reputation from further damage.

I would have to imagine that for being such well-known entities in North America, Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros would have some sort of contingency plan for handling controversial matters, it’s just in this instance both seemed to swing and miss.

Reference

Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F. (2016). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.