By: Lindsay Higgins
Crisis
communications is a very niche aspect of public relations. It isn’t for the faint of heart, or for
someone who gets easily stressed out.
Crisis communications takes a special skill set and a very fine
touch. Unfortunately, in the newest
public relations crisis communication debacle, Ardent Leisure Theme Park
demonstrates exactly what not to do.
It all
started on October 24, 2016 at Dreamworld Theme Park, which is owned by Ardent
Leisure. In a terrible tragedy, four
people died on what was supposed to be a fun day out. The accident happened as inflatable rafts
collided on one of the most popular rides in the park.
As we know,
while emergencies cannot be prevented, companies can be proactive and have crisis
communication plans thought out ahead of time.
While most news outlets were unsure if Ardent Leisure had/have a crisis
plan, it’s pretty evident that it needs evaluating. CEO of the company, Deborah Thomas, had her
mobile phone off for over 48 hours when the emergency happened, and a stiff,
formal apology was released to the public without a comment from the CEO.
Then, three
days after the horrific accident (with still no comment from CEO Deborah Thomas),
a board meeting was held. Thomas was
awarded an $800,000 performance bonus.
It wasn’t until a media news outrage that she then donated a measly
$200,000 to the Red Cross. It was after
all this that the real conflict happened.
Thomas met
with the press and stated that the company had been in contact with the
families of all four victims, and Thomas specifically stated that “We’ve
reached out to the families, we’ve finally made contact with the Dorsett family
and we have been talking with them today about how we may assist”. The reporter, Melinda Nucifora, then states
“The Dorsett family is actually watching this press conference at the moment
and are apparently furious at suggestions that support had been offered to
them. They say that they’ve had no
direct contact whatsoever; no one’s even reached out to them”.
Caught in
her own lie, CEO Deborah Thomas tries to back track by saying “We didn’t call
the Dorsett family directly because we didn’t know how to contact them so we
have been to, um, the police liaison officer”.
Talk about trying to save face and failing miserably. I think we can all see the two valuable
lessons learned from this crisis: 1. Make sure you have your facts straight
before meeting with the press. 2. Always, always, always be honest and tell the
truth.
Citations:
Berry, P. (2016, October 31). ABC Media
Watch. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4566666.htm
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