Saturday, September 03, 2005

The Storm After the Storm

Crisis PR, Katrina and the Bush Administration

The headline story for the past week hasn't been just the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Everyone from news analysts to communications specialists to bloggers are writing about the reported delay in getting water, food and other resources to New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas hit by the storm.

Factor in Kanye West's remarks on NBC's Concert For Hurricane Relief, as well as public outcries from Seattle to Tokyo, and BINGO! You have the makings of what could lead to a public relations nightmare. How the Bush administration deals with the fallout will undoubtedly make for a compelling case study in crisis management.

Selected reports:





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7 comments:

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Very interesting point. You're a newspaper columnist. As a journalist, what word would YOU use to describe the displaced people?

By the way, since you agree with the comments made by Kanye West, you might appreciate a post by SOHH blogger Mr. Irreverent. Here is what he said:

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I don't know about you, but Kanye West made me proud last night.

Eleven eye-blinks after his freestyled speech, Kanye West would spit seven words that will go down in television history.

"George Bush doesn't care about Black people."

Anyone could have called out George Bush. However, Kanye made me proud because of HOW he called out Bush. He choose the right words at the right time. Kanye could have easily said, "F*** George Bush" but he would have come off as an a******. He could have also plugged his album, "Late Registration in stores now." But Kanye shared his 15 minutes of fame with all of us who have been watching the television with tears in our eyes.

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S A J Shirazi said...

I am with you on Katrina.

Rose said...

I would say, the people of or the citizens of...I am a writer I know what provokes conversations but this is about real life, reality, about people dying without help, not about characters on paper. These people will suffer all kinds of problems as a result of this experience. They are going to need counseling, prayer and stability to achieve some level of normalacy.

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Shirazi, thank you. :-)

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Rose, I am hearing some news reports refer to the displaced people as evacuees.

S A J Shirazi said...

I can hear you laughing. I am so glad.

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Shirazi, the new posts on your site are very funny. Clearly, your friends love you and vice versa. Recent days have been challenging for many of us. Thank you for reminding me to laugh. :-)