Crisis PR

Question 0

What are five crisis categories, with examples, that an airport should anticipate?

Answer 0

1. Sudden - aircraft accident, natural disaster
2. Creeping - employee lawsuits, regulatory violations
3. Predictable - upcoming labor strike, community protests
4. Improper Decision Making - human factors, training, etc.
5. Cyber - malicious blogging, hacking damage, etc.

Question 1

For an airport during a crisis, what two things must be handled correctly and professionally?

Answer 1

1. Incident

2. Media

Question 2

What is the first step in crisis mgmt planning for an airport’s PR team?

Answer 2

Brainstorming the various crisis possibilities and responses to mitigate or prevent them.

Question 3

What is another advantage of pre-planning crisis response that may not manifest itself until well after the crisis is over?

Answer 3

Diligence on the part of Mgmt may be a significant argument against negligence.

Question 4

A crisis communication plan includes what three components?

Answer 4

1. Key personnel and their contact info identified
2. Immediate steps that should be taken
3. Airport Spokesperson(s) designated that are not top officials

Question 5

What is the reasoning behind using a spokesperson?

Answer 5

• Initial info to media is routine and repetitive.
• Allows AEs and top gov’t officials to concentrate on crisis
• Signals that top official’s priority is managing the incident, though it is expected they will eventually speak with media.

Question 6

Effective spokespersons have what four characteristics?

Answer 6

1. Approachable
2. Willing
3. Coachable, so as not to offer opinion or conjecture
4. Assertive enough to not be pushed around or coerced by media

Question 7

What may be required of an airport’s PR representative during cases of national concern?

Answer 7

Coordination of media relations with various gov’t agencies or NIMS Public Info Officer (PIO).

Question 8

Under NIMS, a ____________ ____________ ____________ may be established to coordinate public affairs functions and release emergency information.

Answer 8

Joint Information Center (JIC)

Question 9

For use during a crisis, the airport should have pre-established ____________ ____________ for journalists to work from or meet with the PIO. What should be realized about this situation?

Answer 9

media center

Not all journalists will respect an airport’s boundaries.

Question 10

What are the standard questions that media is after regarding news stories?

Answer 10

Who, what, when, where, why, and how

Question 11

How do the various media venues differ in what info they are looking for?

Answer 11

Print - wants details and timelines for descriptive, analytical writing

Radio - looks for concise info in speaker’s own words

Broadcast Media - needs video and photos s best to offer location where possible to avoid them searching for one on their own.

Bloggers / Citizen Journalists - want same access as traditional media, but realize they may have political agenda.

Question 12

During a crisis, media is appreciative of rapid _____________ of ______________ and ______________, even if it means saying “I don’t know”.

Answer 12

dissemination / information / responses

Question 13

AEs should also work with ___________ and ____________ ___________ such as the American Red Cross and Salvation Army in coordinating media management.

Answer 13

relief / support agencies

Question 14

What are the two goals of a PIO during a crisis?

Answer 14

1. Reducing public panic

2. Telling the public what to do, if appropriate

Question 15

During a crisis, it is important for the airport organization to ___________ the right thing first, rather than ___________ the right thing.

Answer 15

do / saying

Question 16

A good PIO will grasp a situation early on, and have an idea of:

1. 2.
   3.

Answer 16

1. Event duration
2. Media attendance
3. Logistics needed

Question 17

For news gathering, media will want to know what four things?

Answer 17

1. How close to event allowed
2. Where can access to news and decision makers be found
3. Overview explanation of the event
4. Ongoing status reports for large events

Question 18

What three things must be considered when choosing the location of a media staging area?

Answer 18

1. Potential crime scenes must not be infringed upon.
2. Rescue operations must not be impeded.
3. Location chosen that allows privacy, considering telephoto lenses and parabolic microphones, for incident command and PIO personnel and discussions

Question 19

The PIO, in conjunction with other PIOs and the airport’s crisis / emergency response team and affected stakeholders, should first:
1.
2.
3.

Answer 19

1. Gather event facts
2. Analyze and determine if information should be shared with command staff or other agencies.
3. Anticipate media questions and develop clear response strategies.

Question 20

Basic info should immediately be sent to the media to stave off __________ and __________.

Answer 20

rumor / speculation

Question 21

Employees must be instructed to not:

1.
2.

Answer 21

1. Speak with media

2. Disclose information on social media

Question 22

The second PIO responsibility is to advise _________ or _________ officials that have responsibility for managing the event.

Answer 22

elected / appointed

Question 23

The PIO should give event briefings in the following order.
1. 
2. 
3.
4. 
5.

Answer 23

1. Media - Very basics to quell rumor and speculation
2. Elected / Appointed Officials if directly responsible
3. Regulatory Officials such as NTSB
4. Media - Best able to do mass notifications
5. Public - Through media

Question 24

Statements to media about the airport are taken in by those who are supporters, detractors, indifferent, or unaffected. For that reason, messages should be written for the __________ and not ___________.

Answer 24

majority / detractors

Question 25

Social media, while possessing many attributes, is challenging to emergency managers. An especially troublesome problem is what?

Answer 25

Private individuals having the ability to disseminate event information.

Question 26

Working with reporters has what four advantages?

Answer 26

1. Gauging reporter's goals or agenda 2. Rapport development so AEs become "real" people 3. Balanced reporting results 4. Education of reporter and subsequently, the public

Question 27

In the role of PIO, what is meant by being "cooperative" with the media?

Answer 27

It means understanding media's role of keeping the public informed and helping them with appropriate information. It does not mean feeling obliged to give them everything they want, answer every question, or speculating.

Question 28

When speaking with the media, what are the two advantages of being concise?

Answer 28

1. Additional questions are discouraged | 2. Lessens the opportunity for media editors to edit-down comments, thus changing context and meaning.

Question 29

1. What is meant by "feeding the beast"? | 2. What are the advantages of doing so?

Answer 29

1. Providing new information to the media on a timely basis. 2. Advantages include: - increased credibility - limiting "bad" news being often repeated - not forcing media to look elsewhere for news

Question 30

When asked several questions at one time, how should the PIO respond?

Answer 30

Choose only one to answer.

Question 32

When speaking with the press, never __________ another agency or the __________.

Answer 32

blame / airport

Question 33

What should be remembered about the statement, "no comment"?

Answer 33

Should be avoided as gives impression of hiding something. If must be said, always explain why.

Question 35

Besides working with media, the PIO will also be providing information to what group?

Answer 35

Family members of victims

Question 36

What legislation seeks to protect victim's privacy by greatly restricting the issuance of their health status to a limited number of gov't agencies?

Answer 36

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1994

Question 37

The NTSB is responsible for coordinating disaster response resources, with regard to family assistance, communicating with foreign gov'ts, etc. Further, airlines are responsible for assisting family members of victims. What act is responsible for this arrangement?

Answer 37

Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act (ADFA) of 1996

Question 38

Issues management includes identifying which are prone to be ____________ to the airport and ____________ tactics such as education and transparency.

Answer 38

detrimental / mitigation

Question 39

What are the responsibilities of the Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA)?

Answer 39

1. Provide Information to family members following an accident 2. Update families of victims on investigation progress in subsequent months.

Question 40

AEs should identify an airport's __________ in advance and work through __________ ___________ ____________ in advance.

Answer 40

vulnerabilities / worst case scenarios

Question 41

For GA accidents, the NTSB ________ ________ _________ is the authorized spokesperson once on scene and with respect to NIMS procedures

Answer 41

Investigator-in-Charge (IIC)

Question 42

What are two effective methods for monitoring internet comments about the airport?

Answer 42

1. Google Alerts | 2. Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to aggregate all conversations