Politics and crisis communications go hand in hand. Think back to the Bill Clinton scandal, the Dick Cheney shooting, the Nixon mess and most recently, the Edwards cancer announcement.
I watched the interview between Katie Couric and presidential candidate John Edwards and wife, Elizabeth, on CBS New
s. While Katie tried her hardest to prove she was a “real” journalist with harsh questions and even harsher comments regarding the situation, I was thinking about crisis communication in politics and what the public has a right to know.
I’m not sure what I would do if I were Edward’s PR consultant. I don’t really feel the public had a right to know about Elizabeth’s terminal cancer but if the information was not released, Edwards would look deceitful. As public figures, politicians have an obligation to disclose information to the audience.
Political crises are different than corporate because there are no traditional stockholders. A politician’s stakeholders are the die-hard supporters, staff members and family members. They have a public and vested interest in a politician’s well-being and should be informed of any crisis.
I think the best advice for ethical crisis communications is to be up-front and honest with the information you can release. It took courage for Elizabeth and John Edwards to come forward with thier news and in the long run, may increase his following. I think he did a good job handling the interview by sticking to key messages. They are coming off as a united force and appear strong and confident in thier decision to release the news.
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