Week 10: Risk, Crisis, Issues and the Third Sector

This week’s reading revolved around management of risk, risk prevention and crisis management.
Basically the message was that, where PR is concerned, prevention is most certainly better than cure.
In order to prevent any potential blunders the PR-Practitioner must have an extensive understanding of the political, cultural and social environment that they or their publics exist in and any risks, issues, or crisis’ that could be lurking in the poorly-lit alleyways of their company’s current position. A good PR-Practitioner swats these unwanted flies quicker than you can say ‘crisis aversion’.
Apologies for that pathetic attempt at a joke.
That being said, surely an element of risk in some instances can be a good thing. In fact, when dealing with cooky-by-nature clients perhaps their risk-taking behaviour not only benefits but is integral to their success. I’m sure every time Virgin’s PR rep sees Richard Branson jumping out of a plane for a promo she is mentally editing his pre-made obituary.
If the risk of Rich plummeting to his death while filming “Rebel Billionaire” was ‘managed’, aka. the whole idea was quashed, then ol’ Rich would soon become the Sensible Billionaire and no one would give a crap about his cheap airfares and his very essence (while physically alive) would be dead.
I guess Branson’s PR rep would be doing their job correctly though, considering she had done her homework and prepared his obituary. Perhaps she would also have to have the camera crew bound by contract so the world’s most famous CEO didn’t appear on an E. True Hollywood Story. By establishing the risks, pre-empting potential problems and implementing strategies to deal with it the organisation and planning facets of their role would be spot on.