Meeting the Media

by Passenger Service: State troopers ride-along with truckers in crash study

When an accident happens and a reporter calls, your first instinct probably is to keep your mouth shut. You don’t want to sound like you’re admitting fault, and anything other than a “no comment” could put a real dent in your corporate image. Unfortunately, ducking questions from headline-hungry reporters assigned to get a scoop may do more harm than good.

Ask Gary Babcock, president of Quik X Transportation in Mississauga, Ont. All of his company’s safety programs couldn’t prevent a horrible mishap on Hwy. 427 near Toronto last year. In what Babcock calls a “freak accident,” a small piece of the hanger spring assembly broke off a Quik X truck and jammed into the driver’s-side steer tire, locking it to the left. Out of control, the truck swerved to the left, plunged through a guardrail, and veered across five lanes of traffic before hitting a car. The two men inside were killed instantly.

“We’d never seen that type of break,” Babcock says. “You wouldn’t detect it during an inspection.” It was a claim supported by the Ontario Provincial Police, who cleared Quik X of any negligence. After such a terrible incident, the idea that your company is impervious to controversy may quickly crumble as you look out the window and see the first reporter and cameraman jump out of the media van and head straight for your front door.

The first step in any crisis management program is to assign one point man to field inquiries from reporters and to let employees focus on what’s important: the health of the people affected by the accident, and the thoroughness and accuracy of the investigation. Trucking is an industry that’s felt the heat of the media spotlight many times before, so it’s understandable if you’re intimidated enough to refuse comment. But it’s the worst mistake you can make, says Babcock. “If you board yourself up and refuse to deal with the incident,” he says, “all you’re doing is letting others tell the story for you.” Those “others” may include a competitor down the street, or maybe a former employee. In other words, reporters will find something to fill their notebooks, so make sure the message they leave with comes from you.

Communicate the facts. John Stall, a veteran radio reporter in Toronto and a consultant on media relations, advises companies to gather relevant information and clearly communicate the facts. That’s how Babcock reacted. “After I was made aware of the accident the first thing I did was have our safety department give me the driver’s record, and the maintenance department give me the equipment records,” he says. “Then I made sure they were 100-per-cent up to date and accurate.” Once you have the facts — about your company and about the incident — sit with your response team and narrow down the message you want to release.

Be concise: radio and TV reporters are looking for soundbites — five to 15 seconds. While your extensive safety history is important, don’t get too hung up on it. If all you do is brag about your accolades, chances are only you and the reporter will ever get to hear about them. Stick to the script. Journalists have their own techniques for steering an interview. It’s their job. Don’t equivocate or speculate, and stay away from answering hypothetical questions. “Don’t comment unless you’re sure it’s true,” says Stall. “It’s OK to say, ‘We’re investigating that right now, we’ll get back to you when we have more information.'” Show concern. Stall advises companies express compassion and understanding for victims or other people who are involved, although there’s no shortage of opinions over whether this issue should even be dealt with at all. Some people believe that complete strangers have no business reaching out to victims and their families, and it can only cause more harm than good. Stall passionately disagrees. As proof, he cites a recent CP Rail train derailment in Toronto that killed a bystander. In the days after the accident, the victim’s brother-in-law called the radio station where Stall works, 680 News, to complain that the railroad neglected to offer condolences. “I put him on the air,” Stall recalls. “That became the story: ‘Brother-in-Law of Killed Woman Furious at Silence of CP.’

Vow to take action. Use your time in front of reporters to explain the steps you’re taking to deal with the incident. Stall calls it your “course of action.” Without it, you’re simply itemizing facts — you’re not saying you’re willing to act or improve, he explains. “The stronger the language the better: ‘Not one more truck will hit the road until…’ and then you list the course of action,” says Stall.

Something else to consider: Your reputation and involvement in your community can influence how you’ll be portrayed. “The community is our biggest ally,” says George Ledson, president of Cavalier/ Geobron Transportation in Bolton, Ont. “A company’s reputation can tip the scales on how it’s judged in the media.” However, testimonials will only help if the media feels like digging that deep — which isn’t often.

In the end, a company will be judged not by its history but by how it initially responds to the incident. Babcock’s message, and the media’s subsequent reporting of it, are textbook examples of a basic crisis response program in action. After describing the accident at the top of the story, here’s how the Toronto Star dealt with Babcock and Quik X in subsequent paragraphs: The driver of the tractor-trailer has an excellent driving record, Gary Babcock, president of Quik X Transportation Services of Mississauga, said yesterday. (Communicate facts.) “This is a horrible situation. There’s been loss of life, (which) we feel absolutely terrible about. Certainly this is a catastrophe,” he said. (Show sympathy.) “We have a very, very solid safety program, inspection program. We’ll be looking at everything to find out what happened.” (State course of action.)

“There’s no special skill to dealing with the media. You just have to face them and be prepared,” Babcock says. “I’ve seen our picture in the paper a couple times. It happens. But it’s not necessarily your fault. That’s the message you need to be getting out there.”


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