Crisis Communication : Assignment 1

Reading:
1. Coombs, W.T. Ongoing Crisis Communication, Chapter 7: Crisis Recognition

2. Fearn-Banks.Crisis Communications, Chapter 13: Death and Injury

3. Fearn-Banks. Crisis Communications, Chapter 14: Individuals in Crisis

Directions:
1. Answer the questions below.
• Though most questions will come from the Coombs reading, you may also find questions on the twoFearn-Banks chapters as well.

• Some questions may be best answered through a combination of all readings.

• Cite your sources. All in-text citations should be in APA format. All references should be in APA format. You do not have to put the Book/Chapters in the reference section, but please include them in the text. Any references can follow all questions and do not have to be done on a question-by-question basis.

• Write in complete sentences not bulleted lists. Questions that "seem" to ask you to list something should include an explanation unless you are specifically told not to.

Assignment:
1. Bribery and computer hacking are two crises that are often unreported. What other crises are organizations likely to hide?

2. What types of information does a university prefer that potential students do not have?

3. Organization keep saying how much customer service means to them. Why are so many crises caused by not paying enough attention to customers?

4. Why would a crisis manager need to sell a crisis to other managers?

5. Why would a crisis manager want to sell a crisis to other managers?

6. List and briefly describe the different types of information-processing problems.

7. List and briefly describe the different types of information-processing mechanisms.

8. Considering Columbine: With more than a thousand media inquiries per day, how could you prioritize the local, national, and international media?

9. Considering the Metro Transit Case, How did TV reporters create problems during the crisis?

10. How would a lawyer and a PR professional differ in their advice to a celebrity client embroiled in scandal?

Assignment 2:-

Reading:
1. Coombs, W.T. Ongoing Crisis Communication, Chapter 8: Crisis Response

2. Fearn-Banks. Crisis Communications, Chapter 15: The Crisis Communications Plan

Assignment:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using full apologies during a crisis?

2. Do you think partial apologies have any real value? Why or Why not?

3. As a crisis manager, how can you prepare for using instructing and adjusting information prior to a crisis?

4. Why does attribution theory seem so fitting for crisis communication?

5. What other crisis types would you add to table 8.3?

6. Why does strategy matter during a crisis?

7. Is there a time for strategy?

8. What factors could create a double crisis?EMHS 6203

Case Study Discussion:-

Reading:
1. All currently and previously assigned readings.

Directions:
1. Use the questions below to guide discussion.

• I am not requiring a minimum word count, but it must be a substantial post. Failure to provide a substantial response to other students will result in loss of points and a forced minimum word count for future assignments.

Assignment:
1. Why do political figures frequently lose their positions after scandals, but entertainers and sports figures, even if they go to jail, are often returned to their former positions as stars? If you were a publicist or agent to a celebrity, would you attempt to establish rules with your client, warn him/her about appropriate and inappropriate behavior, or just bank your salary and let things occur?

2. San Francisco psychologist Mark Zaslav was quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (April 2, 2006, page F1) as saying the following:
"Research shows that people who go on to commit violent acts generally display serious psychiatric maladjustment relatively early. Features such as deficits in the capacity for empathy, absence of mature prosocial guilt for suffering caused to others, idiosyncratic violent fantasies and behavior, cruelty to animals, classmates or siblings, low tolerance for frustration, excessive anger and substance abuse are often in evidence long before the culminating violent act. Parental abuse, neglect or other trauma may occasionally figure in the picture. Each case is different and human behavior is complex, but in short, "gentle," "normal," people generally do not commit mass murder."

Considering Zaslav's comments, why are mass murderers often depicted in the news media as shocking those who knew them with sudden violent behavior? Reporters frequently quote mothers and friends who say, "The person I know couldn't possibly have killed anyone. He was too gentle, too sweet." Are parents and friends suffering from shock and grief good subjects for investigations into why a crime is committed? On the other hand, are victims' families and friends more reliable sources? Who would be a good source?