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 Award winning broadcaster Steve Adubato has been teaching, writing, and thinking about communication, 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. Adubato discusses the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol scare, the Don Imus controversey, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, Bill O'Reilly, the Hurricane Katrina crisis and the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal.Arranged 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?
Author(s): Steve Adubato
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 248
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 11
Introduction......Page 15
Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol Scare: Getting It Right......Page 26
The Exxon Valdez Oil Tanker Spill: The Invisible and Clueless CEO......Page 34
The New York Knicks: Know When to Fold 'Em......Page 41
Chaos in a West Virginia Coal Mine: “They're Alive!”......Page 52
The Church’s Pedophilia Scandal: Skeletons in the Closet......Page 61
Dick Cheney: Misfiring Under Pressure......Page 71
The Glen Ridge Rape Case: “Stand by Our Boys”......Page 82
The Death of Pat Tillman: The Cover-up Is Always Worse......Page 93
Rudy Giuliani: A Tale of Two Leaders......Page 104
Christie Whitman and the EPA: Coming Clean on Ground Zero......Page 118
Prudential’s Terror Threat: The "Rock" Gets It Right......Page 130
Virginia Tech: A Deadly Delay?......Page 140
Don Imus: “I Can't Get Anywhere with You People”......Page 150
Jon Corzine: Getting It Right . . . And Getting It Wrong......Page 162
Jet Blue Airways: A Late-night Disaster......Page 172
The O’Reilly “Factor”: Knowing When to Shut Up......Page 182
Taco Bell’s E. Coli Scare: When Good Intentions Aren't Enough......Page 191
The New York Times: Covering Up for Jayson Blair......Page 198
The Duke “Rape” Case: A Rush to Injustice......Page 210
Alberto Gonzales: Paying the Price for Playing with Words......Page 221
NFL Boss Roger Goodell: Scoring Big Points Under Pressure......Page 232
FEMA Fails during Katrina: Talk About "Clueless”......Page 242
Notes......Page 253
About the Author......Page 263
