An article I contributed to the Elon chapter of PRSSA blog Posted: November 18, 2011 The Public Relations Issues

of the Penn State Scandal B !oll "ein#arten, $ha%ter !ember "e&ve all heard about the horrif in# scandal currentl #oin# on at Penn State, and 'e cannot overcome the shoc( and disbelief that somethin# li(e this could ha%%en) There is so much chaos surroundin# the school, and so much confusion about 'ho is to blame) "e are as(in# ourselves ho' somethin# so terrible could ha%%en, but 'e are also 'onderin# if Penn State 'ill ever re#ain its honor) The fate of PS* lies in the hands of its %ublic relations %rofessionals and their abilit to reconstruct its tainted re%utation) "hile no amount of crisis communications could chan#e the alle#ations made to these once+ beloved Penn State officials, the situation could have been handled much better) These re%resentatives made some ver %oor decisions in dealin# 'ith this %articular case, and the re%ercussions are %rovin# to be severe) ,or instance, PR re%resentatives should have never dela ed a res%onse to the alle#ations) If the sim%l came out front to admit fault and state 'hat the %lanned to do about the issue, the could have avoided a lot of scrutin ) The athletic de%artment&s PR office, the -ffice of .thletic $ommunications, and other PR re%resentatives attem%ted to do some dama#e control, but their efforts 'ere lar#el ineffective) Instead of facin# the %ublic and %rom%tl clarif in# an misconce%tions, /oe Paterno 'as 'ron#l advised to cancel his 'ee(l Penn State ne's conference) In the da s that follo'ed, re0uests for re%orters to as( desi#nated 0uestions fell on deaf ears) The main %roblem in this case seemed to be that Penn State&s %ublic relations re%resentatives did not have an established crisis %lan to follo') -f course, there is no amount of %lannin# that could have %re%ared the universit for such a scandal, and there is no 'a that an one could have (no'n the s%ecific actions that needed to be ta(en in this situation) 1o'ever, the re%resentatives in this case did not %ro%erl a%%l their PR s(ills) The did not sta informed about the alle#ations, the did not res%ond 0uic(l , and the did not have their clients2 best interest in mind) The 'ere too bus tr in# to hide a'a from the media, rather than loo(in# at the im%ortant details of the matter and res%ondin# on behalf of the universit in a trans%arent, %rofessional and timel manner)

. lac( of or#ani3ation and communication led to this PR catastro%he, but there is a lot to learn from this e4am%le in order to %revent similar %redicaments from occurrin# in the future) In the %ast, there haven&t reall been instances of a situation 0uite li(e this, but somebod had to be the first to deal 'ith it) *nfortunatel , it had to involve some hi#hl +res%ected %eo%le at a %resti#ious institution) Penn State *niversit has a hu#e su%%ort s stem, so there is almost no doubt that it 'ill reclaim its credibilit and inte#rit ) But for no', it is u% to the %ublic relations %ractitioners at Penn State to ta(e control of the situation to assist the universit in restorin# its ima#e) In crisis communications, it is important to remember three things: 1) Be prepared. 5ven if there is no %lan for a %articular situation, it is im%ortant to use 'hat ou (no' to develo% one 0uic(l ) 2) Admit responsibility as soon as possible so ou can beat the media to the stor ) 6) Be honest with the media and give them correct information) The media is incredibl %o'erful, and #ivin# them the facts 'ill onl benefit ou and our client)