When there are no words

Under Pressure 2 August 2024

When there are no words

This week has been devastating for people in a small town in the North West of England. The attack on children in Southport is truly shocking and my heart goes out to the families and loved ones who have been affected. It is at moments like this we all struggle to try and make sense of what has happened. In reality, this will not happen. We just have to find a way through and ensure we are there to support those affected.

These are the times when there really are no words than can truly capture the emotions. Like many I was moved to tears by the tributes to the three young girls that came from their families.

The impact from such events will be felt far and wide. Parents will feel concerned about the safety of their own children. Families will hold their loved ones that bit closer. Anyone organising summer events will need to review how they are managed. And after more than 20 years in policing I know this will have had a huge impact on emergency responders not just in Merseyside both much further afield.

Now is not the time for anyone to try and look at what the implications may be or what comes next. This really is just a moment for silence and to come together to support those whose lives have been devastated. The National Emergencies Trust have been coordinating fundraising and details can be found here.

The BBC’s reputational challenge

A guilty plea from one of the BBC’s former main presenters when he appeared in court facing charges of making indecent images of children has raised many questions. The organisation knew about the arrest in November but took no action as Huw Edwards was not at work at that time. BBC News was quick to make it clear they work independently and also had not been aware of the criminal case. Amanda spoke to LBC radio’s Nick Ferrari about the issue on Thursday this week. You can listen again here (note the interview is at 02.05.00).

Wildfires highlight extreme weather challenges

The terrible sight of huge areas of Canada and America being devastated by wildfires has shocked many. For people in countries not usually affected by wildfires there is a lot to learn from how others face these situations. The climate crisis is changing weather conditions and more places may have to tackle these issues. So, what can we all do now?

People need to consider what they can do to protect against wildfires. Instead of seeing warm weather as a welcome change we all need to be aware of the risks it brings both to infrastructure and health. There are some interesting points raised in the Canadian Get Prepared website that we all need to consider. Find out more here.

It also needs a long term plan and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction team have produced a document about improving preparations and governance of these situations which was published earlier this year. Find out more here.

If you want to help those affected by the current wildfires then check out the Red Cross who have been co-ordinating support.

Compassion in crisis communication

In the latest 10 minutes with conversation, Amanda had the pleasure of speaking to Dr Fiona Meechan a leadership specialist who has been researching compassion in the workplace. There are so many key points to take away and information that is available to find out more. To check out what Fiona talks about watch it here.

CrowdStrike Outage

There has been a lot written about the CrowdStrike outage that hit at the end of July. It put crisis plans and communication to the test for a large number of businesses and organisations. Amanda gave some immediate thoughts to PR Week on the morning that the outage became obvious. Read what she said here.

The travel industry was significantly affected and there are questions now about how they can be more resilient to such technical problems. A recent article considered the impact and what is next for travel crisis planning. Read it here. The latest crisis communication case study in Amanda’s Testing Times series also revisits the issue and the longer term learning points.

In Brief:

• There are still a couple of spaces left on Amanda’s next two hour training session - Developing a Crisis Communication Strategy. If you want to find out more email office@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

• BT have been given a £17.5m fine following a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the emergency call system in June 2023. There was criticism of an inadequate response to the issue. Find out more here.

• Details of Hungarian crisis communication responses have been collated in a Crisis Map for 2023. During the year ‘critical and catastrophic cases account for 39% of the total number of crises. There was also an increase in the number of protracted cases requiring longer term communication strategies. Read more here.

• The size of the social media crisis management market was detailed in a recent report. It was valued at 1.88billion USD in 2023 but is anticipated to grow by more than 21%. Find out more here.

• The Peace Research Institute in Oslo has published a paper on disinformation and emergency communication discussing the serious threat, and how social media is being used in Nordic countries. Read more here.

• As flood waters rose in Vermont it became clear that rural residents were struggling to receive reliable information. Find out more here.

• A recent report from IBM found the global average of the cost of data breaches hit a record $4.88 million. Find out more at Security Intelligence website here.

• The European Union has released a report that highlights significant vulnerabilities in the telecom and energy sectors. It points to supply chain issues including with 5G networks and the renewable energy infrastructure. Find out more here.

• New research has been published that looks at the impact of journalists using Twitter (X) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Find out more here.

• The latest monthly crisis communication case study has been published. This edition focuses on the long term lessons from the CrowdStrike outage. To receive a copy email office@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

Diary Dates:

• On 15 August Amanda will be running the Developing a Crisis Communication Strategy two hour training session. For more information email amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

• Amanda will be running the popular half day session on Developing a Communication Strategy for the PRCA on Tuesday 17 September. To find out more about the session click here.

• A 90 minute crisis management webinar from Amanda will take place on Tuesday 17 September. The session provided through the PRCA looks at preparing, responding and recovering from challenging situations. Find out more here.