BOOK PROMOTION You don’t have to look bad in bad times. Malaysia’s media management went haywire when MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Malaysia’s lack of planning, preparation and practice in a crisis especially when facing the media exposed weaknesses in conveying MH370’s key messages. The first book to chronicle a candid Malaysian perspective, ‘Flying Through Crisis: MH370 Lessons in Crisis Communications’ analyses the media relations and public communications from the key players.
Mistakes in crisis management were visible as it showed up that most Malaysian officials were seen trying to learn ‘on the job,’ as audiences around the world witnessed the media circus in the early days. According to the two authors, with their 60-years’ combined experience, the officials learned rapidly and improved dramatically as time went on but the initial mistakes were difficult to recover from.
International crisis consultant Dr David Kirkham and journalist, media coach and TV producer for local and foreign TV networks, M Krishnamoorthy disclose the lack of training and prior practice in their new book.
The two authors spent a year researching the subject and have written eyewitness accounts reinforced with case studies of international and Malaysian journalists reporting on radio, television, newspapers and juxtaposed against the role of the social media vis a vis the mainstream media.
Worst still was rumours, news speculation and misleading reports hit headlines as there was a lack of proper news dissemination at the daily press conference. In such a scenario, for CNN and many other news networks no theory is too cuckoo for prime time, Los Angeles Times reported.
Crisis management and especially communications during a crisis are fiendishly difficult, according to the authors. “There can be no substitute for planning, preparation and training reinforced by practice and yet more practice before a crisis. Crisis management is so challenging that it cannot be learned in a couple of workshops,” said Dr Kirkham.
Krishnamoorthy observed, “The key players have recognized that the communications response has not been ideal and they have been candid and mature enough to say so publicly, including the director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation and the prime minister amongst others.” Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak admitted that the government was so focused “on trying to find the aircraft that we did not prioritise our communications.”
The authors admitted that it was exceedingly difficult to narrate the cases and episodes of media flip flops in press conferences whilst attempting to retain a balanced objectivity. “We have had no access to the private meetings in the government departments nor do we know about the discussions in the Malaysia Airlines crisis team and we have not speculated about these discussions,” explained Krishnamoorthy.
Dr Kirkham noted in his insights on MH370 that the book emphasises learning from crisis, as the responses to the second unbelievable tragedy of MH17 demonstrated. “Dynamic strategies are introduced as a framework for planning by crisis teams. We believe we have provided practical and proven techniques and processes to assist those facing a crisis.”
Krishnamoorthy said, “No one is perfect. To err is human. It is in this spirit that we can improve our crisis management skills. We have based this book on evidence but all that evidence is public domain material.
Explaining the purpose of writing the book, he added, “We hope this book will be helpful to senior management, corporate communications staff in the private and public sector. It will also be invaluable for college and university students studying journalism, communications and management.”
Double disaster
Unbelievably and tragically, Malaysia Airlines suffered a double disaster with MH370 first and MH17 about four months later. Flight MH370 disappeared and Flight MH17 was lost with all passengers and crew over Ukraine.
Krishnamoorthy, a veteran journalist, covered both the disasters working for more than two months with the international media. He captured the moments of family’s grief, leaders who performed poorly in front of 300 over international journalists and how Malaysians coped with the double whammy (MH370 & MH17).
Now, Krishnamoorthy has captured the memorable moments on how Malaysian CEOs and heads of government departments fared in managing the media, rightly or wrongly.
This is a must-read book for CEOs and leaders even in the public sector to grasp the accumulated 60 year knowledge and experience of crisis communications expert and journalists.
Whilst this book addresses what remains one of the 21st Century’s greatest mysteries with the loss of MH370 on March 8, 2014, the second tragedy affords a unique opportunity to compare the communications responses to both crises.
The authors have been able to add to the original manuscript a chapter on learning from crisis. In addition, the future of Malaysia Airlines was placed in greater jeopardy by the second aircraft loss and so the chapter reviewing the crisis impacts has been updated.
The book is an extended case study in public and media communications during a crisis. The first hundred days of what may be many more are covered here. The book does not speculate over the final resting place of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 nor does it seek to explain why the Boeing 777 disappeared. What it does do is provide sound and entirely practical advice on how to handle communications in a complex and long-running crisis.
The book emphasises learning from the crisis by concentrating both on those things which went well and those which did not. People learn more from doing things right and wrong. It is a handbook for CEOs, professional crisis communicators and university students studying communications. It does not peddle platitudes nor does it over-theorise. But it does tell you how to do it.
Resource: https://www.malaysiakini.com
No comments:
Post a Comment