Litigation and public relations

Read an interesting column on the need for public relations in lawsuits by PR Professor Mark Grabowski:

"With a 24-hour news cycle and a popular fascination with legal controversies, a company must protect its reputational assets. Many lawyers worry about publicly revealing any information because it could be used against their client or tip the other side about their litigation strategy. But a "no comment" simply won't suffice. The public will assume the worst -- that the company is hiding something. Bad publicity can drive down stock prices..."

Crisis prevention through foresight

Read advice by PR professor Mark Grabowski on how to handle Michael Moore and the bad publicity he and other investigative journalists inevitably bring:

"...what should a company do when a Michael Moore, 60 Minutes crew or other type of "investigative journalist" shows up on its doorstep unannounced? Too often, companies and organizations make the mistake of waiting for a public relations crisis to happen and then responding to it. No matter how much damage control a company does, it's hard to overcome an embarrassing clip from a movie or TV show that will be indelibly stamped in the minds of millions of Americans. A better approach is what many of us in the PR industry call 'crisis prevention...'"