Timing, Technique & Tone - The 3 keys of Crisis Communication

Timing
This examines the sequence of events documented in the local and print media that illustrates the period of time taken after the incident occurred before a response whether formal or informal was documented in the Jamaican or Caribbean media.

Technique
This refers to how the documented response to the public was given by the individuals or companies involved, whether by face to face, formal press release, via internet, televised or radio broadcast.

Tone
This refers to the emotive style utilized in the response messages. The tones coded were as follows:

Apologetic – acknowledging guilt, depicting apology, saying sorry

Explanatory – explaining what happened, how it happened, contextualizing the details

Defensive – deliberate effort to dissociate company or individual from any wrongdoing

Neutral – facts only depicting date, time, place, outcome without explaining how it happened or depicting any emotions

Persuasive – deliberate effort to convince public to agree with the company’s or individual’s stance taken

Compassionate – use of reassuring, comforting words

Authoritative – using authoritative jargon like statistics, expert advice, referring to authoritative data

Dismissive – trivializing event, or indicating that there is no crisis

No Comment - Either by actual silence or indicating “no comment”

Withholding – deliberately avoiding vital information

Definition of Terms

Crisis
Any situation that creates a threatening situation to the integrity or reputation of a company or organization, usually accompanied by undesirable negative media attention.

Caribbean Region
CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Member States includes Jamaica, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Monsterrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
Crisis Communication. A set of concepts, principles, analysis and working methods that apply specifically to how an organization or individual responds to a crisis via written verbal discourse

Shipping Industries
Companies that are involved in all elements of ocean transportation including transportation of cargo and/or individuals

Airline Industries
Companies that are involved in all elements of air transportation including transportation of cargo and/or individuals

Communication Guidelines
A hypothetic plan of action suggesting techniques and procedures which organizations and individuals may potentially use in the event that they are faced with a crisis that requires a response via media whether written or verbal.

Why is Crisis Communication important?

Crisis Communication, especially since the global impact of the September 11, 2001 United States attacks, has become a phenomenal consideration in many corporate entities in North America and Europe and by domino effect, the Caribbean region. Crisis Communication includes forecasting potential crises and planning how to respond to them using proven communication techniques and analysis.

Tourism and trade are the two top money earners for the Caribbean and supporting and facilitating tourism and trade are the industries categorized under Air transportation (airline industries) and Ocean transportation (shipping industries). While it is evident that the Caribbean must be protected at all cost from avoidable incidents of crises in these industries, in the unfortunate event that any type of crises occurs, there has been little or no documented study to guide how the response to crisis, i.e., crisis communication specifically for the region.

What is 'Crisis'?

Ogrizek M., Gullery J. M., Brooke H. K. & Brooke R. (1999) in their book cited Morin’s subtle statement that “Crisis means indecision. It is the moment when uncertainty looms at the same time as disruption” (p.4).

Ogrizek M., Gullery J. M., Brooke H. K. & Brooke R. (1999) further cited Lagadec’s working definition of crisis:

Crisis is a situation in which organizations are faced with critical problems, experience both sharp external pressure and bitter internal tensions and are then brutally and for an extended period thrust to centre stage and hurled one against the other…all in a society of mass communication, in other words, in direct contact with the certainty of being at the top of the news on radio and television and the press for a long time. (p. 14)

For the purpose of this study the most articulate definition of crisis was postulated by Coombs (1999) who summarized that crisis is an event that is an unpredictable, major threat that can have a negative effect on the organization, industry or stakeholders if handled improperly. Coombs (1999) further states that a crisis will create actual and potential negative outcomes to organizations, their stakeholders and the industries.