In this fast turning media world reputations are won and lost overnight. With the spotlight last week on doping issues at one of the world’s best known horse racing stables, it was a matter of hours before Godolphin’s reputation took a battering worse than Becher’s Brook on Grand National Day – and that’s despite an erstwhile royal reputation befitting its princely owner, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates.

The stench of more than just horse manure is sure to linger.

And whilst we all love a good race horse, they’re best kept on the course and away from our dinner plates. Recent revelations that the UK’s teatime favourite, the humble beef burger, has become the Lance Armstrong of the food world, has driven a coach and horses through food safety issues. The scandal has raced across Europe revealing a continent-wide breakdown in the traceability of food in the supply chain, with ever-more beef products testing positive for horse meat and other interlopers – with or without banned veterinary drugs to boot.

So what are the food safety experts telling us?

• That test results indicate food fraud rather than an immediate health risk
• That Europe is seeking a continent-wide solution – we’re in this together
• That tighter controls, stiffer sanctions and higher penalties are coming

It’s all fairly reassuring. We’re in crisis, but action is being taken.
Rebuilding reputation post-catastrophe is challenging. From the outset damage limitation is key. Releasing the right statements, at the right time, via the right channels can minimise fallout. That means preparing now; being ready to meet the crisis head on from day one by engaging with the media and social media.

There’s help to be had and new media skills to learn, but if you need coaching, learn from the Godolphin crisis – be sure to engage a ‘trainer’ that knows the rules…

Questions will again be asked about what can be done to safeguard the innocent either from accident or terrorism. Equally, yet again we are thankful for the meticulous training and professionalism of the emergency services. Despite the lack of warning, these brave teams arrived within moments, delivering aid to the victims and some semblance of order to the carnage.

As footage of ‘the aftermath’ unfurls in real-time across television and internet channels, reporters and presenters across the globe grapple to deliver the facts. Media spokespeople for event organisers, plant owners, police and other emergency services, step forward to deliver key messages, sourcing information directly from their teams on the ground in well-honed procedures. They are every bit as prepared to handle their role as the medics, the ambulance crews and the surgeons. They expect the unexpected and they plan for it. Is your communications team trained and ready to react?

Around the world the coverage is less inflamed. Margaret Thatcher is hailed as a pioneer for women and politics, but she was also a break-through figure in terms of modern political communications. Together with her advisors Tim Bell and Bernard Ingham, Maggie Thatcher became a political PR explorer presenting a carefully honed image and carefully woven – some might say spun – campaigns and broadcasts. She used political rhetoric to reshape attitudes. She used PR stunts to win elections, helped hugely by a right wing dominated UK press. She conveyed in simple images and idiom what she believed and she was not afraid to meet her combatants head on.

So, was Thatcher an ‘Iron Lady’ who rescued the UK and modernised its economy, or an elitist who repressed the working classes and crippled British industry? The debate will rage on throughout history and there can be no conclusive answer. What is clear is that twenty years after Margaret Thatcher ceased to be prime minister her most famous phrases are still remembered, repeated and utilised by her own generation and those that follow: If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.

The Guardian described the 87-year-old as “the most dominant British prime minister since Winston Churchill in 1940”. With the upcoming County Council elections taking place across the UK on Thursday 2 May 2013, perhaps the real question is who’s next? But candidates should remember one vital lesson about Maggie’s success. Love her or loathe her, the public absolutely knew what they were voting for – or against!

Dissatisfied patients already seek a second opinion from the media, but from April, GPs will no longer be answering solely for themselves or their practice. As a vital organ, GPs will be required to safeguard the reputation of the CCG as a whole. While it’s often hard to criticise an individual, it’s much easier to criticise an organisation.

GPs need to rise to the challenges of dealing with the media. They need to understand what to say, how much to say and when to say it – or their words could become an intravenous drip, feeding media coverage and keeping the story alive. Handling the media is a professional skill with a set of tools and techniques that can be learnt and practiced. Learning this ‘First Aid’ now, could spare GPs and CCGs the casualties of the future.

Professionalism, excellence and commitment are the three words that most spring to mind from the feedback we’ve received from those who have participated in, and benefited, from your highly effective approach to media training.

— Hilary Knox, Deputy Chief Executive, Association of North East Councils

The Project Overview

Local government authorities across the North East were facing sweeping changes. Twenty-five councils were set to become twelve; the introduction of Unitary Authorities would affect everyone from the council tax payers to the chief executive officers. Effective communication with all stakeholders was vital.

The North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership had funding to improve communications in the region. A key component involved council interaction with the media. The Association of North East Councils, representing the region’s (then) twenty-five local authorities, was tasked with commissioning comprehensive media training for all councillors and key spokespersons. A competitive pitch involving media trainers from across the UK resulted in Media Friendly being awarded the contract, based primarily on its local government expertise.

The Challenge

A firm brief was developed with three main threads.

In a time of uncertainty and change, councillors and officers across all local authorities needed to work together to deliver core messages. The Association of North East Councils wanted to improve communication between local councils and their citizens, partners and the media to encourage greater interest, participation and engagement in local government in the North East.

In an arena traditionally associated with top down communications, the challenge was to create an ethos of bottom up communications and an all-round confidence in engaging the media, for councillors and officers to help them communicate achievements and successes – as well as challenges – facing the sector.

There was also a desire to enhance the image, perception and reputation of the local government sector on a national stage and gain recognition of the North East’s success stories with a range of opinion formers and decision makers.

The Solution

photo by davedawson

In total the project lasted a year delivering more than thirty, full day, empowering media workshops to approximately 180 individuals. Cross council networking was a key element of this programme’s success. Six representatives, each from a different council, attended each training day, which helped develop a new web of communication lines between authorities.

The project clearly needed an understanding of local government ethos. Media Friendly’s Andrew Carapiet, a former BBC local government correspondent, journalist and communications expert, delivered the training throughout, bringing consistency with unrivalled commitment and experience.

Aware of the challenges and vital role faced by elected members who are often first-in-line to talk to the media, the training began with councillors and was followed up with a second round for all senior officers and key spokespersons.

The training was tailor-made. Andrew developed realistic, regional training scenarios based on his extensive research into the North East and the individual councils involved; for example, exercises were based around the Future of the North-East Coast Mainline Railway and the £1billion regeneration plans for Gateshead town centre.

Workshops covered both pro-active PR and crisis media relations across print, television and radio. Topics included:

How media works: what journalists want; identifying news value; meeting deadlines

• Protocols for handling a media enquiry
• Interview technique and handling difficult questions
• Taking control of interviews
• How to prepare quickly

This was in 2008, a time before social media.

The sessions worked on Media Friendly’s core ‘one-to-one training in a group format’. The emphasis was on the practical, with individual video playback analysis and supportive critical feedback from the group.

The Outcomes

Councillors and officers developed a new understanding in handling the media. They built up their skills to take control of interviews, defuse awkward questions and identify positive newsworthy articles.

The cross-council element of the training naturally developed a network of contacts for councillors and officers across all twenty-five councils in the North East. This fostered joined up thinking and opened up opportunities to work together, both within communications and on other projects

Politicians and officers came away from the training equipped with the skills necessary to deal effectively with a range of press and broadcast media interviews. It helped them articulate credible and authoritative messages about local government, demonstrate leadership, as well as explain, inform and help stimulate interest in local decision –making.

“Given the significant changes – and indeed exciting opportunities – taking place in local government in the North East, I don’t underestimate the importance of the training Media Friendly has provided in helping the sector to step up to the mark in how it communicates and presents itself to the outside world.”

– Hilary Knox, Deputy Chief Executive, Association of North East Councils

By contrast, courtroom procedure and the UK’s legal system are based upon rigid rules, steeped in history. The lawyer who best knows the rules employs them to his advantage. But the same can be said of the media and social media in terms of using them for strategic communications or simply minimising negative coverage. Whether there’s a media scrum on the courthouse steps or a virtual media frenzy, lawyers need to understand pre-determined rules of engagement.

There’s a Brave New Virtual World out there that is highly influential. Failing to engage is like cutting off your nose to spite your facebook.

Photo Credit: University of Leicester

With millions spent each day on research, you can bet your gold sovereigns that every university has an unsung story to tell that could add news value and kudos to its brand. And make no bones about it, there’s a whole generation of new academics willing to engage with the media – they just need to learn how.

It took the Austrian wine industry over a decade to recover from the discovery of antifreeze in its wines in 1985. Tesco is only now at the first hurdle and it’s clear that there will be far-reaching consequences surrounding reputation and consumer trust.

So what can the supermarket giant do in terms of damage limitation? Much depends on their handling of the crisis and the basis of core messages reaching customers in these early days of the media frenzy.

So what do customers want?

They want an apology.
They want to understand why this happened in the first place.
And they want to know what will be done to safeguard them in the future.

That is the basis of best practice in crisis media handling.

So what lessons can be learnt from Tesco’s embarrassment? Be prepared. Don’t wait until there is horsemeat in your burgers or your trainline is deluged by ‘the wrong kind of snow’.
Action now could safeguard your company’s reputation for the future.

I’ll wager a Pony that Tesco’s spokespeople are all trained in media crisis management. Are you?

A useful incentive or an expensive ‘well done’ badge?

A national Social Media Friendly Mark has recently been introduced by the Local Government Association (LGA) as a logo or badge to be displayed by local authorities to make clear their commitment to using social media to communicate with the public. The initiative is being implemented on trust and the logo can be displayed on documents such as meeting papers, websites, letters or pamphlets. The scheme is an acknowledgement that if used correctly, social media is a powerful communications tool, helping to drive cultural, political, economic and social engagement.

Reassuringly councils will not incur additional expense in using the mark. Any costs incurred are funded by the LGA in devising, setting up and publicising the initiative. 

So is this simply a ‘well done’ badge for local councils or will the Social Media Friendly Mark have an impact?

What does the Social Media Friendly Mark do?

The Social Media Friendly Mark is designed to tell the public that councils are providing information through a broad range of online channels. It can indicate the availability of wi-fi in public buildings for live tweeting, blogging and uploading photos. It makes it clear that the use of social media to report meetings in real-time via tweets and status updates is welcomed.

Leading by example

Let’s face it, how many times have we heard the public say, “What do council officers do all day?” The LGA’s #OurDay ‘tweetathon’ initiative involved local authorities across the UK and provided a behind the scenes insight into the round-the-clock effort that drives hundreds of council services. Almost 4,000 local government tweeters, including chief executives, frontline staff and councillors, contributed more than 10,000 tweets which were seen by more than 760,000 people. At one stage the #OurDay hashtag was the number two trending topic in the UK. 

It seems the LGA is leading by example with initiatives designed to show local authorities how the co-ordinated, strategic use of social media can help enhance the reputation of local government, improve engagement with different elements of the community and drive efficiency. The Social Media Friendly Mark is just part of an overall strategy to increase the use of social media amongst local authorities.

Creating a two-way conversation

Over the years local authorities have spent millions in newsletters, leaflets and pamphlets trying to engage with different sectors of the community. Marketing communications have been written, revised and approved in triplicate. The instantaneous nature of social media reporting suggests a more open, transparent and regular form of two-way communication.

Tools such as Twitter are great for alerting people to real-time situations such as road closures and flood warnings. But they also give people the opportunity to provide direct feedback and may appeal to a different audience from those who receive their local news via the print media. From the local authority’s viewpoint, it can be particularly useful to those who experience a hostile editorial direction from their local press.

Will the Social Media Friendly Mark have an impact?

Anything that encourages real two-way communications in a targeted cost-effective way has to be good news.

At first glance, the Social Media Friendly Mark seems to be ‘just a badge’ to be displayed at the first sign of a tweet, but perhaps the beauty is that there are no costs to the local authority and no need for the LGA to police such a scheme.
Always the first to provide critical feedback, members of the public will have no need to ‘queue up to complain’ if their local authority displays the mark without following the ethos. They can take to twitter, facebook or the council blog instantly from anywhere in the world and make their feelings known.

Whether the local authority takes that opportunity to engage and respond is their business.

How doctors are using new technology and social media

Are GPs surgeries a thing of the past? That’s the key question being asked following the recent Health Department report, Digital First, that looks to replace the homely GPs’ surgery with a ‘virtual clinic’ system operated via phone, skype and weblink consultations.

Assessments would be completed online and text messages would deliver those test results that are negative. Gone are the paper files and case notes, with apps being used to access lab reports and health records. Whilst campaigners say lives would be put at risk, particularly amongst the vulnerable elderly and the less-technologically savvy, Health Minister Lord Hunt thinks its time the NHS changed its antiquated systems and saves itself a vast £3billion. With a £20billion NHS funding gap, change is inevitable.

The question really, is what role can technology play and how soon?

In fact, some doctors and their patients are already reaping the benefits of quicker, slicker and more cost-effective communications using populist social media such as facebook – and learning fast how to avoid the pitfalls. So what are the benefits that doctors and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) are passing on to their patients?

The Guardian reported recently on The East Surrey CCG, which has created a facebook group for its board members, a virtual meeting room to share vital information efficiently. As GPs take on a whole raft of new responsibilities, reducing the need for face-to-face meetings and endless email chains is a necessity. In East Surrey, the result is an online forum with a real-time record of the ‘minutes’ that can be referred to, and updated, again and again. Furthermore, there’s a chance to create a professional community amongst local GPs, who until now have been closed off for much of their working day.

Of course, no one is suggesting doctors use facebook to store sensitive medical information, instead it’s a chance to discuss issues in a conceptual form or consider logistics and methods of operation.

So, what are the benefits of an on-line community?

• An efficient and effective two-way conversation, allowing doctors to give feedback on proposed or current initiatives
• Fast, free publicity for the latest services and guidelines
• Educational events – a chance to discuss topics from the comfort of offices or to share resources in advance of face-to-face meetings
• Downloadable referral forms for joint clinics which allow completion and returns within minutes
• A facebook calendar and event functions to create simple online invitations and booking systems
• A forum for newly qualified doctors to gain help

Facebook – and other medical tools

But there are other uses for facebook and social media amongst the medical profession. The BMJ Case Reports tell of a doctor using facebook to diagnose the cause of a patient’s stroke. In investigating whether a droopy eyelid and small pupil was abnormal for a patient, the doctor used the only instantly available photographs – on facebook – to check the history. The photographs showed that the stroke was very likely to be caused by a trauma.
There are other social media in play too. East Surrey CCG is using twitter, a more open form of communication, to talk directly to patients.

The largest and most active network of medical professionals in the UK is reportedly also twitter-based, on doctors.net.uk

Of course as medical professionals start to dip a toe in the water of social media, mistakes are perhaps inevitable – and vitally, they are public.

So what are the potential pitfalls of an emerging social media strategy?

Internet security and privacy is key to safeguarding patients against the release of inappropriate or identifiable information:

• Make full use of security settings to ensure any groups are closed and visible only to members.
• Create a social media code of etiquette
• Use moderation tools to ‘catch’ inappropriate posts before they’re public
• Remember that all communications, even these more casual, shortened forms, should pass professional scrutiny

The development of guidelines by professional medical bodies demonstrates that the medical profession accepts and largely welcomes the growth of social media use among healthcare professionals. Recommendations are being provided by the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Doctor Kildare syndrome still exists

Finally, a final hearty word of warning. There have been concerns about the casual nature of social media leading to patients stalking doctors or flirtatious online conversations.

Remember:

• Keep it Professional
• Keep it Secure
• Keep it Anonymous

And if in doubt, consult a professional.