Dipping below the radar

The word Radar … Radio Detection and Ranging … was coined by the Americans. Pity nobody shared it with US company News Corp. It has become self-evident that the Murdoch Empire did not have in place anything approaching a crisis management plan to deal with the fallout from the phone hacking scandal, which could still engulf the corporation. Leaving aside the issues of corporate governance, although the shareholders probably won't, it is extraordinary that seemingly nobody in the company was using radar to scan the horizon for potential incoming. After all, hacking is hardly new.

Perhaps even more extraordinary is that a media conglomerate seemed very unsure about how to deal with the media when the crisis broke. As we have pointed out before, summarily sacking 200 journalists who had nothing to do with the hacking does nothing to endear you to the Fourth Estate. There seemed to have been no joined up thinking. Do we appear before the Select Committee or stay away? How do we deal with the BSkyB bid? What are the key messages? Surely, it wasn’t just us who knew nothing about it?

Of course the UK operation is small in comparison with Murdoch interests in the US and Australia. Consider Fox News, THE revenue generator. But being based in the US does have its drawbacks. Think corrupt practices act and the alleged payments to the Met? What is the Murdoch Empire doing to sandbag what could happen outside the UK? Given the exposure of the last couple of weeks, you wonder.

Another American, Benjamin Franklin, argued that the only certain things in life were death and taxes. To that we add corporate crisis. Assume it will come and prepare accordingly. The corporate communications library has many examples of were companies have used crises to come out stronger; to enhance reputation rather than torpedo it. But it does need to be woven into the corporate culture; prudent over-reaction rather than wait to be engulfed.

Still the whole thing does appear to have produced at least one heroine. Step forward Mrs Murdoch.

For information on how Reputation Radar could help your company contact LINK Associates International by emailing info@linkassociates.com