Journalists covering negative comment response are working to a deadline you do not control. Reputation built over years is re-assessed publicly within hours when the communications and media practice capability is mishandled. Work is grounded in real cases drawn from the communications and media practice discipline, which each participant adapts to conditions in their own organisation. Mature organisations treat negative comment response as a standing capability rather than a project that finishes. They leave able to brief senior management on this aspect of communications and media practice in terms that support a decision. Moving the communications and media practice capability from written policy into daily practice is not achieved by a single decision. The programme takes participants through negative comment response end to end, from framing the problem to closing it out. It is pitched for practitioners with responsibility for this area of communications and media practice, not for observers of it. Work concludes with a self-assessment of the communications and media practice discipline that participants can repeat annually.
Expected Learning Outcomes
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Design the crisis response plan for negative comment response with named roles and pre-agreed authority.
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Agree the first three actions on negative comment response that will be taken on returning to work.
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Build the archive and record of communication on negative comment response.
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Diagnose whether a problem in negative comment response is one of design, resourcing or discipline.
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Align communication on negative comment response with legal and regulatory constraints.
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Sequence improvements to negative comment response so that each step makes the next one easier.
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Plan the recovery arc after a reputational event involving negative comment response.
Who Should Attend
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Operations staff who encounter the consequences of negative comment response directly.
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Investor relations officers communicating negative comment response to markets.
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Team leaders and supervisors who put negative comment response into practice day to day.
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Government relations and public affairs officers covering negative comment response.
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Community relations staff engaging stakeholders about negative comment response.
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Public relations and communications managers responsible for negative comment response.
Course Modules
Open any module to see its sessions and topics.
01
Negative comment response: media relations and the working journalist
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Getting other functions to support negative comment response
Identify the data already collected that bears on negative comment response.
Rehearse the briefing on negative comment response that would follow an incident.
Configure monitoring that flags coverage of negative comment response within the hour.
Agree who signs off statements on negative comment response outside working hours.
Session 2Building media relationships on negative comment response before you need them
Prepare the response for the most likely failure in negative comment response.
Identify the journalists who actually cover negative comment response and what they need.
Decide in advance when to correct misinformation about negative comment response and when not to.
Confirm that those complying with negative comment response understand why it exists.
