A Legal and PR Case Study: Global Pandemic
The past few weeks have been insanely unpredictable and I can only assume that new revelations are to come. However, I am under the belief that the response to Covid-19 has been a total PR and legal nightmare.
Horrible Public Response
In my studies, I haven’t had any experience with pandemics. Although I’m not an expert in this area, I would assume that a proper PR response is the same. That is to be honest, be transparent, have all the facts, and to reassure the public. In my opinion, that is the complete opposite of what has happened. As a result, I do believe there will be lawsuits that will stem from this.
However, in this post, I will go through what I would’ve done as a part of the communications team.
Be Honest/Transparent and Have All The Facts
You never want to make a full statement without having all the facts, but you should at least have all the facts up until the statement you’re giving. I believe this is especially true for a pandemic that’s rapidly changing.
Being honest and transparent with the public is important because they might get other information elsewhere that is less credible. As a figure of authority, you have to make sure you have all the facts so that you can present them in an honest and transparent way. This creates a level of trust between you and the public. As I’ve mentioned before, trust is everything in the court of public opinion
Reassure The Public
In this situation, I would’ve reassured the public by echoing that we’ll get through this. In times of a global pandemic, it is obvious that people are worried and scared. This is only natural, but it is the job of the figure of authority to reassure that you’re doing everything you can to overcome the crisis.
Walk The Walk
Words are great, but what people want to see is real action. Words don’t mean anything if you’re not actually doing what you’re supposed to. Although this is not the job of a PR professional, it is something that should be highly emphasized. Without this step, all that hard work of gaining the public’s trust is lost. You can’t say one thing and do the opposite. Furthermore, it’s okay to admit you were wrong before. Just make sure that you’re going forward and continuing the cycle: be honest, have all the facts, and do what you say.
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