Precision can be described as the quality, condition or fact of being exact and accurate. Precision is essential, precision is intricate, and precision is beautiful; more than anything else, precision is necessary. […]
Introduction by Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Hennes Communications was founded in 1989 as a full-service public relations firm. In 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we became one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis management and crisis communications. Since then, we frequently work with attorneys, who tend to be the […]
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications For organizations responding to sudden, catastrophic crisis events, one of the most challenging decisions to make involves determining what to say and when to say it. Wait until all the facts have been gathered and you risk not being part of the critical first news cycle, which often sets […]
It’s a simple fact: Controversies today are tried in the Court of Public Opinion more often than the Court of Law. News now breaks first on social media, with traditional media sweeping Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for leads. Whether your organization is immersed in crisis or dealing with a hot-button issue, your news can quickly […]
By Bridget Johnson for Homeland Security Today ISIS roared onto the social media landscape not with a gruesome beheading, but with a fluffy kitten. The beheadings would be infamously broadcast by the terror group, leading to scattershot social media bans followed by new accounts created by terrorists and their loyalists to replace and augment the […]
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Public officials, CEOs, executive directors and members of for-profit and non-profit boards have a responsibility to their stakeholders to plan for situations that will imperil life, limb and the ability of their organizations to fulfill their missions. In the immediate aftermath of a major incident, such as a mass shooting […]
By Tony Jaques, for Managing Outcomes – When a boatload of tourists was involved in an incident in remote northwest Australia, and more than a dozen were taken to hospital – some with serious injuries – you might expect the company to express shock and sympathy. But apparently not. According to media reports, the only statement […]
Crisis communications is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communications is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, outcomes, and specific behaviors to adopt to reduce the threat. […]
From Rachel Monroe, writing for The New Yorker – The paper’s employees lost neighbors, acquaintances, and a daughter in a school shooting. Then they had to report the story. The news, as it initially came over the police scanner in staticky bursts of information, was confusing. A shooting, a car crash, a man with a […]
From Christopher J. Tennyson, writing for Crisis Quotient Blog – In the Early Hours of a Crisis, Getting Things Right Trumps Fast Response We’re all still processing the horror of last week’s mass murder in Uvalde, Texas. Continuing confusion about just what happened at Robb Elementary School that day is adding to the pain being […]