Defending the reputation of a company is the responsibility of the PR person. You need to be aware of what the public is feeling about the industry you are involved in, and relate to them accordingly.

If the public opinion of a company is in danger of becoming negative, it is the job of the PR team to intervene. From social deviant employees run wild to an oil spill off the coast of Florida, there are many things that can damage a company’s reputation.

Taking note of the error is the first step, which needs to happen quickly. The story will spread, and you need to know how and where it will be communicated through various media. Nothing spreads faster than a scandal that has leaked onto the internet.

You need to take on the criticism and then formulate a damage control strategy. If there has been a simple misunderstanding then you need to publicise the fact that this is the case. In the times where a mistake has been made it is best to publicly acknowledge this, and then amend the problem, but make sure that the reparation is covered by the media. In needs to be obvious to everyone that the company is working to resolve the problem as well as it can and as quickly as possible.

Your goal is to make the fix more newsworthy and interesting that the original problem. You need to put a positive spin on the worst situations.

Once you have a response decided, you need to get the message out. Press releases are a good start to communicate actions. You also need to go further when you are being attacked over the internet. You need to engage people through the forums and social networks to make it clear that the issue is being resolved in a responsible manner.

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