Fishburn Hedges

18.07.2011

To quote Samuel Beckett; “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” This seems to be the mantra of News International’s crisis communications strategy.

Strategy one – trying to play down the scale of the crisis by not deploying a senior spokesman was a poor start, as I pointed out last week.

Strategy two – holding onto Rebekah Brooks as a “firewall” to protect James and Rupert Murdoch blew up spectacularly at the back end of last week when Mrs Brooks - by then more of a lightning conductor – first resigned and then was arrested. The failure of the firewall strategy also forced the resignation of Les Hinton, the head of Dow Jones, former head of News International and a Murdoch lieutenant for over 50 years!

Like a quarterback on an American football team, Rupert Murdoch has gone back to the crisis comms playbook and is now trying strategy three – apologising. This has been evidenced by four significant actions – Rupert speaking publicly for the first time, Rupert meeting the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl whose phone was hacked, Rupert agreeing to give evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport committee, and adverts taken out in rival publications to show contrition.

Are these the right things to do? To abuse another famous quote: “Up to a point, Lord Copper”.

Rupert was right to break his silence but he chose to speak to the Wall Street Journal – which he owns. The WSJ is a well respected publication but if you want to face up a crisis, you have to confront your enemies - an interview with The Guardian or the Financial Times would have worked better. He was right to meet Milly Dowler’s family, but what about the other victims of phone hacking – the families of 7/7 victims, 9/11 victims, and soldiers who died in Afghanistan? Rupert is right to go to the CMS committee – he did legally have a choice, but not if he wants to plug the gushing well of bad news. Here’s a guide to what he can expect.

Finally, the adverts. Again the right idea but not well executed. The first advert showed contrition, but the second was an unsubtle attempt to limit the damage. The opening line states: “We are appalled by the allegations that some individuals at the News of the World failed to uphold the values of decency and the rule of law.” This fails on so many levels. The lawyers almost certainly inserted the word “allegations” but this detracts from the transparency of the apology. “Some individuals” implies this behaviour is not systematic within the organisation – which is a clear hostage to fortune when the current and former chief executive of the company have been forced to resign.

But not as much a hostage as saying “at the News of the World” – a blatant attempt to isolate the problem within a part of News International that has already been zapped! What happens if it emerges that phone hacking occurred at The Sun or – worse – the Sunday Times? This containment strategy is fraught with risk and could easily backfire.

Look out for a fourth strategy.

Posted by Jason Nisse