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October 27, 2010
Handling a Media Crisis
 Getting to the top of the company ladder is an accomplishment for any woman – but it also makes you a potential target when making unpopular decisions. Just ask Vivian Schiller, the first female CEO of NPR. She's taking some serious heat for the firing of longtime NPR reporter Juan Williams. Some cried censorship, while others called for a halt of all public funds and grants going to the media powerhouse.
PINK sat down with Schiller the day after the controversial announcement for an exclusive interview.
How to manage the crisis?
"The one thing you don't want to think about until it happens is a crisis," says Meg Reggie, principal of MRPR and former vice president of consumer brands at Edelman Atlanta. "The challenge is getting through the crisis with minimal damage to your image and to public opinion.” Reggie recommends speaking first, reacting as a person rather than a company, having employees' support and monitoring media coverage to fend off any rumors or false statements.
The biggest challenge is to react appropriately and quickly, says James Lukaszewski. In "Seven Dimensions of Crisis Communication Management," he warns, "it's the non-action and the resulting spin that cause embarrassment, humiliation, prolonged visibility, and unnecessary litigation."
Some CEOs look to one another for confidence and support when faced with tough decisions. These situations become more prevalent during tough economic times, when downsizing and layoffs are more common, according to the New York Times.
PINK Profile: Amidst the chaos, Vivian Schiller sits down with PINK to discuss leadership, life balance and how she became the most powerful person at NPR.
By Caroline Cox
"’We are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act." Anonymous
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Comments
NPR Debacle
She should be fired for her poor handling of the Williams comments. Her own comments about him speaking to a therapist are inappropriate. He wasn't discussing NPR policy, he was simply stating his honest feelings. PC has gone too far.
Vivian Schiller
Ugh. This woman insulted Juan Williams personally after firing him unnecessarily and unprofessionally. What a poor example for you to present. I certainly hope NPR suffers funding issues from this incident. The public will vote with their feet.
Please focus on some of the tremendous, hard-working, common-sense women that are coming to prominence in our country, thank God. All women leaders are not these far-left, unprofessional, bubbleheads. Who's next in your column, Joy Behar?
NPR and Juan Williams
Firing Mr. Williams was a grave error and a sad commentary on free speech. We have become too politically correct. This will only continue to hurt us inn the long run and compromise our ability to have effective dialogue.
PINK Response
Dear friends of PINK,
We are not endorsing Vivian Schiller's decision to fire Juan Williams. We are committed to featuring women business leaders about their experiences and leadership style, especially high-profile women. We at PINK appreciate all of your comments and the chance to have a dialogue.
Handeling a crisis???? How bout creating a crisis
Vivian Shiller's comments created more of a crisis than it was to begin with. Even though Juan Williams is much better off without NPR, her careless attitude and non professional methods should not be rewarded with an article of admiration. I am going to have to rethink Pink.
Handeling a media crisis
I think you should have not included Vivian Shiller in this article. What NPR did was wrong in every way imaginable. Her thoughtless comments after news broke were uncalled for and WERE the reason that many cried foul. Even after her apology about those comments it made her look like more of an idiot.There are many other women out there who could have handled it better. Perhaps I should rethink my subscription to Pink.
I love her story about not choosing a career path
Good morning. Your team did a great job with the Vivian Schiller interview; I love her story about not choosing a career path, even though people pressured her to do so. Sometimes it feels like the only way to progress is to give yourself a specialization, but that conflicts with who I am on a fundamental level -- someone who wants to advance her knowledge in every area she can. It's nice to hear that there are other women out there who feel the same way and that the only rules you should live by are your own.
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Vivian Schiller
Vivian should be commended for her integrity in firing Juan Williams. NPR is one of the few organizations left that actually adheres to journalistic standards; and there's no apology in that.
Rock on Vivian!
Your "Top Woman Pick" was way off the mark
I signed up to receive your email updates and have noticed for a while that they lean to the left, politically speaking. I wasn't aware that this site was political, but it appears that way based on many of your features. However, I'm an independent and was ok with it, until today. Spotlighting Vivian Schillar after she decided to fire Juan Williams, via email (which is completely unprofessional given his tenure with NPR) and then to smirk while saying he needs to take up his issues with his psychiatrist?? As a professional woman, I find Vivian Schilla's actions embarrassing.
Juan Williams is a champion of the civil rights movement and is able to speak with others who have views that are different from his without being disrespectful. What he said on the O'Reilly show is what the majority of Americans (of all races and religions, including MUSLIMS) feel from time to time. He was honest and speaking from the heart. Instead of making a rash decision to fire him and follow that up with immature remarks while giving a speech, Vivian should have taken the high road. Perhaps asking Juan to expand on his comments further using his radio show, having guests from the Muslim community debate them, etc. This is exactly what Juan did when he hosted the O'Reilly factor following his termination. What I saw was that there are Muslim organizations who are open to Juan's feelings and see that as a spring board to helping Muslims overcome this awful stigma that the Muslim Extremists have placed on them. After her act I support removing the public funding from NPR as it doesn't represent the American public and I for one do not want my tax dollars going to something that is not representative of the majority.
Because of this article I am unsubscribing. I prefer to hear about issues that impact me as a professional and people who are truly worthy of a spotlight and add value to my day. Those tend to be issues and people that are not one sided as I am not a one-sided person. I've voted for democrats and republicans because I base my opinion on the issues not party. However, this site appears to promote one thing - the far left agenda and that is a turn-off for me.