17. Crisis Management. Issue Management.

Nowadays the society is flooded with crises and burning issues that affect individuals and organizations. Smart managers value pr advice in developing response both to crises and to public issues in general. That’s why pr ppl who work in this field are maybe the most respected and highest paid ppl in this prof-n. There is executive post “issues managers”, who deal with dif issues affect comp.

Issues management is a capacity to understand, mobilize, coordinate and direct all strategic & policy planning functions, all pr skills.

5-step process: 1) anticipates and identifies issues with which the org-n must be concerned, 2) analyses each issue with respect to its impact on publics, 3) displays the various strategic options available to the org-n, taking into account opportunities and vulnerabilities 4) implements the action progr to communicate the org-‘s views and to influence perception on the issue, 5) evaluates its progr in terms of reaching org-l goals.

The objectives of IM are to preserve markets, reduce risks, create opport-s, manage image. IM encompasses the following elements: pre-crisis planning, focusing on the most significant issues, timetable, support of the chief executive. To anticipate external obstacles is very difficult, or even impossible.

Tactics. Issues identification: traditional research techniques+ more informal methods. Evaluating issue impact and setting prior-s may be handled by issues committees within the org-n. A company’s position must be established (pr ppl work on position papers). The 4^th step is designing action. To achieve gd results all the efforts must be integrated and coordinated: management speeches, advertising, empl comm-s.

Risk comm-n is an outgrowth of issues man-t. It is the process of taking scientific data related to health and envir-l problems and presenting them to the public in a meaningful and understandable manner. Goal – control the emotions flow that derive from the lack of knowledge.

15. Pr and the Law. An Uneasy Alliance. The Controversy of the 1st Amendment. Pr and Insider Trading. Pr and Disclosure Law.

Historically the legal and PR profession have been intertwined. Lawyers increasingly use pr strategies and methods. PR techniques help them to influence public opinion, win settlements and in general, affect the outcome of legal issues.

On the other hand, pr pract-s must always understand the legal implications of any issue with which they become involved.

The difference between professions: lawyer – advices how to act in a court of law, pr – how to act in a court of public opinion. A lawyer’s advice is often “Say nothing and say it slowly”. From a PR standpoint it often makes sense to go public early on. + law and ethics are interrelated. Many act-s that are unethical are also illegal. But there are cases where smth is perfectly legal, but unethical and vice versa. A smart manager should always weigh both legal and pr counsel before making a decision.

The fact remains that a law plays a prominent role in pr and vice versa. Let’s 1^st discuss the legal concerns of PR profs today.

1^st Amendment concerns: the freedom of speech in the press cannot b abridged. It lies at the heart of the commun-s business, so defending it is a front line responsibility or the pr profession. Interpreting a 1^st amendment is not an easy task (one person’s definition of obscenity may be another’s definition of art).

Insider trading – trade of the stock exchange through having access to confid-l info. Using confid-l info to get profit. Punishment – fines and a jail sentence. Laws can create problems for pr ppl, who share business info with journalists.

Disclosure law. Prohibits the dissemination of false or misleading info.

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