Often, crisis communications can mean an organization is called upon to respond quickly to a situation that threatens its reputation – and perhaps its bottom line – and most likely for the long-term. Think: A high-profile company official arrested or a product recall. On August 26, a nightmare situation forced a Roanoke, Virginia TV station to instantly deal with a crisis of almost unthinkable proportions when two of its employees were gunned down on live TV by a former coworker.

If crisis communications is about protecting an organization’s reputation, I would argue that what happened at WDBJ-TV rose to a whole different level – you could call it tragedy communication.

On this edition of MediaSmart, we look to how WDBJ responded with its communications around the tragedy that rocked the station – and from that, pull six tips that we all can use if, Heaven forbid, our respective organizations would be threatened by a similar occurrence.

Click the ‘Play’ button to hear more in this episode of MediaSmart!

Learn more:

Seven Rules to Remember When a Crisis Strikes – MrMediaTraining.com/Brad Phillips

10 Tips for Effective Crisis Management – Sterling Communications

Crisis Communications Tips – Hutchens PR

How to Communicate in the Midst of Tragedy: 9-Step Checklist – GettingAttention.org/Nancy Schwartz