Given the events of the past 20 years in matters involving drugs and steroids, Major League Baseball needs to view the just-released Mitchell Report--a report the organization itself commissioned--as one of its last best chances to maintain its fan base and stem the cynicism that has been eroding the sport’s national appeal. All along, Major League Baseball and the players’ union have appeared to deny that there was serious steroid use in its ranks, despite strong ... Read More

When I first heard about the Red Cross' dismissal of its president Mark Everson, I thought, 'Here we go again.' Five presidents in six years isn't a good track record for any organization and doesn't inspire confidence, internally or externally. Upon further reflection, however, I've come to more fully appreciate the courage and leadership of the Red Cross--an organization that's been heavily criticized over the past few years (think 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina).Yet despite this litany ... Read More

From 'accident injury questions' to 'Zyprexa lawsuit', the plaintiffs bar has a huge head start on the average company when it comes to being Internet savvy. In fact, in some recent research our firm did, we found many dozens of keywords and keyword phrases that the plaintiffs bar dominates. If you're a public relations professional trying to help the public understand the company's point of view when it comes to the 'Paxil recall', the ... Read More

With the recent news that the TJX data breach actually affected 94 million credit cards--more than double the 45.6 million cards initially reported--any company that has anything to do with private consumer data must be on alert. And even though there are theories circulating that hackers used an in-store employment kiosk to set the data stealing trap, TJX hasn't had much to say. From a communications point of view, TJX's lack of transparency (and 'everybody's doing ... Read More

I was reading Operational Risk's insightful recent blog post on the role of fear in understanding and managing risk and that got me thinking about the role that emotions--fear, ego, a desire to be right, etc.--play in a time of crisis. Larry Craig, Martha Stewart, Michael Vick and the Utah mining disaster have something in common--in all four situations, an initial crisis strategy was sorely lacking, and emotion overrode logic. These are examples of the dangers ... Read More

In the past two months, we've seen and heard more of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) than we had for our entire lives. Most recently, the agency has come under fire for what some see as a deadly delay in issuing a recall for a baby crib. This September, Congress conducted a series of hearings examining the disappointing role of the CPSC in the recent recall of toys imported from China. By now we’ve all ... Read More