You are asked by the CEO to craft a positive statement to the press and employees about the financial health of the business. You are aware that the company is likely to go bankrupt within the next six months and that many of the senior executives have cashed in stock options and will recieve millions in bonuses. WHAT DO YOU DO AND WHY?
What do you do as a PR Executive for a major financial institution?
You are asked by the CEO to craft a positive statement to the press and employees about the financial health of the business. You are aware that the company is likely to go bankrupt within the next six months and that many of the senior executives have cashed in stock options and will recieve millions in bonuses. WHAT DO YOU DO AND WHY?
One Response
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
First, as a PR executive, you should have a position in the decision-making process. A true PR exec. isn’t just a flunky who follows through without discussing the issues, the objectives, the opportunities, and the risks of a specific action. So you discuss those issues with the CEO.
It would be understandable for the CEO to want a positive statement issued. So–without lying and without misleading–you draft a positive statement. If you’re a member of PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) or any of a number of other communication associations, that’s what you ethically and morally do. You do not “corrupt the channels of communication.”
If the company is publicly traded, there are also limitations and restrictions imposed by the SEC on what you can say and what you can’t say.
So you might begin something like this:
“Joe Blow, CEO of MegaCorp, said today, ‘The future of MegaCorp is positive. Reports in the press and elsewhere regarding the company’s finances are inaccurate and misleading.’” And so on.
First, you’re attributing the statement to the CEO. Second, it’s highly likely that many of the reports regarding the company are, in fact, inaccurate. Third, in any case, there’s a long way to go in the next six months and, as a PR Exec, you still probably aren’t privy to the details of the company’s finances.
If you don’t feel comfortable walking that line–conveying information, providing advice to the CEO, being very careful of how you phrase things, but in no circumstances lying–then you look for another job.
Hope that helps.