NFL PR Dept Enduring Nightmares

The bad news is relentless for the NFL in the past few weeks. It all started with Ray Rice getting caught for domestic abuse and then several other NFL players, including the all-star running back, Adrian Peterson. Aside from the domestic abuse cases, some players are being charged with felony assault. Certainly, this has been quite a difficult period for the franchise public relations dept. of the NFL.

The nation's most popular league has suffered many franchise PR blows; the league has been under a lot of pressure from the public, media, and law to discipline the players who have been caught. So which players have been caught of wrongdoing?

Adrian Peterson. One of the best players in the NFL was accused of child abuse in Texas. The Minnesota Vikings player has not been suspended.

Greg Hardy. The defensive star for the Carolina Panthers has had many legal troubles. He has been convicted of misdemeanor assault charges for allegedly threatening to kill his then-girlfriend.

Jonathan Dwyer. The Arizona Cardinals running back has allegedly assaulted a woman and her child. He has been deactivated from the team.

Ray Rice. We have all likely heard about this one. The Baltimore Rav
ens RB knocked out his then-fiancee, now wife, in a NJ casino elevator. He has been released by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the league.

Ray McDonald. The San Fran. 49ers defensive tackle was arrested due to accusations of felony class domestic violence. The league's new rule states this results in a 6 game ban, unpaid.

Quincy Enunwa. A member of the NY Jets' practice squad was arrested for assaulting a women in a hotel.

So, as we can see, the NFL has quite the crisis communications situation in its hands at the moment. One possibly positive move they recently made was hiring a woman as the league's Chief Marketing Officer.

Certainly, the NFL did not see this coming, however, they likely had a PR plan in place. Does your company need help putting together a plan in case of a crisis? Maybe updating that plan? Contact All Points PR, a Chicago PR agency, to get your company prepared for any potential issues. A crisis will happen and you must be prepared for it. We can help.

5 Tips For How to Deal With Media as a Business

When you have a start-up company, you don't have much time for things like PR and dealing with the media. This means that when there is a complaint or something else to be resolved and the media knocks on your door, you're on your own and don't know what to do.

One of the worst things to do is say, "No comment" since this is often interpreted as a confession that you're guilty; however, you don't want to give anything away. This is a great reason to hire a franchise PR agency, however, if you insist on defending yourself, then here are five tips to help you.

1. Remain composed & factual- Don't try to be the funny man here, be professional about it. Humor can help relax tension, if you do it wrong, then it backfires. They are there to make some news so if your joke fails, then that's fuel for the fire. Don't make things up or manipulate facts and be calm while you do it. A reporter will fact check and find out when you lie and they can tell when you're nervous. Even if you have to fake confidence, that is a big help in crisis communications. 
2. What you say will be published. Don't say anything that you don't want to be published and (probably) used against you. When it comes to talking off the record, some reporters do not oblige by that rule and will publish anything you say (remember, these are not legally binding terms and there'd be no proof it was said, anyway). Any information you spill to them, they are legally allowed to publish in the story. Consult with a franchise PR firm to get tips about what to say. 
3. It's likely you're being recorded. Some states require that both parties have knowledge of the recording but up to 33 of the states do not require that; this means that only one person has to know. Often times, that one person is the reporter. 
4. Get information. If there is something going on, then you need to remember to ask questions and get information as well. If the reporter comes to you, then you'll want to have information in your back pocket as well. You can also request a day or two to respond to all the questions you were asked so you can give great responses. 
5. Squash the news. A good job of franchise public relations is to deal with the problem so well that the problem is gone, not just covered up. Sometimes this means giving something away; if you sell furniture and someone has a complaint about a chair, would it be the worst thing to give them a free chair to replace the other one? This would kill the complaint and squash any story for the reporter. 

Now, the best solution would be to hire a franchise PR firm, especially a Chicago PR agency but if you must defend yourself, then at least be equipped. If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about services, then contact All Points PR.