What Were They Thinking?: Crisis Communication

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 Awarduwinning 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 everDon Imus: Sometimes saying 'sorry' is too little too lateFormer Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: Authority does not put you above questioningBill O'Reilly: Know when to stop defending yourself and save faceFormer EPA Administrator Christie Whitman: Proof that your written words can come back to haunt youHurricane Katrina: A natural disaster that led to a larger governmental disasterThe Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal: Denial won't get rid of the skeletons in your closetArranged 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?