You may one day face the same dilemma as Barack Obama and his
staff did in August.  When do you let sleeping dogs lie and when do
you come out swinging?

WHEN YOU ARE THE SUBJECT OF ATTACKS

You may have read that the same author who published a negative
story about Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam record back in 1999
recently put out a book claiming to reveal things about Senator
Obama that would alarm voters.  Some political analysts said that
Senator Kerry’s defeat in the election of 2000 was at least
partially attributable to the fact that he did not take those
negative “Swift boat” stories seriously enough early enough. Doubt
about his military leadershp capabilities lingered, and the fires
were fanned by wide circulation on the internet.

Certainly those thoughts were in the minds of Senator Obama and his
campaign staff as allegations about his being unpatriotic
and a practicing Muslim began to make the rounds.  When the book
was published in the weeks leading up to the Democratic Convention,
a decision had to be made.

It would be the same for you if you found yourself and/or your
organization the subject of a series of attacks and negative
allegations.  Do you just ignore these things and hope they will
fade away after the initial burst of negative publicity, trusting
that they won’t do any serious damage? Or do you respond strongly so
that the public recognizes that there is another side to the story?

IT’S A REAL “DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON’T” SITUATION

Sorry to tell you this, but whichever decision you make, you might
be wrong.  Someone is likely to criticize you when they have the
benefit of 20/20 hindsight. (But you should be used to that by now!)

You really have to judge things like this on a case-by-case basis.
Surely you don’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction and fire off a
protesting Letter to the Editor every time a reporter doesn’t get
everything right in a story.  Even if someone writes a negative
story or letter about your organization, you don’t necessarily
want to fight back in print.  Typical advice of communications
professionals at a time like this is often to just let it die;
otherwise you risk keeping the story alive.  People who didn’t read
it on Monday will read it on Wednesday (and then maybe again on
Friday if your letter prompts a retort or leads to someone else
piling on).  Many times negative things that might annoy you don’t
really do serious damage to your reputation.  You risk making a
mountain out of a molehill.  And people could get the sense, as
Shakespeare said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

However, if an allegation is false and potentially seriously
damaging to your reputation, then sometimes you must refute it
publicly.  Otherwise you run the risk of allowing the allegations
to stand as facts.  If you don’t give people your story, they are
left only with the other side to believe.  “It must be true or they
would have said something!”

So when you read something negative about your organization in
print or on the internet, take a step back.  Take a deep breath.
Analyze the extent of the damage. Is it just that your feelings are
hurt or you are annoyed?  Talk to your colleagues or — better yet
– talk to people among your most important audiences (community
members, customers, etc.). Listen to what they think the long-term
impact may be.  If it seems to be minimal, let it go.

But if the allegations and false statements build to a point where
important audiences may carry an image that is seriously damaging to
your organization’s reputation, then you probably should speak out.
Choose the appropriate vehicle to address those who read the
negative report — whether a Letter to the Editor, a more in-depth
Opinion Editorial piece, a full-page ad in a newspaper or a posting
on the internet.  State your case factually and from a positive
viewpoint without attacking your detractors.  Keep to the high
road.  People will respect you more.

OFTEN IT’S NOT EASY

In the case of Senator Obama, he and his staff decided to post
an extensive statement on their campaign website to refute these
claims.  Sometimes it is not easy to decide what is best to do.
Just be sure you think it through thoroughly before you decide
whether to respond or not. Consider your response and all the
consequences carefully.

# # #

SPECIAL NOTE:  Thanks for your patience, getting this edition a
little late.  Our anniversary trip on the Rhine River was
absolutely fabulous! If anyone wants details, just ask.  We have
about 300 photos we could share…or I could give you the
abbreviated version.

Until later this month — Keep Cool!

Judy Hoffman
www.judyhoffman.com
jchent@earthlink.net
1-800-848-3907 PIN 2145

JCH Enterprises, 116 Nelson Lane, Clayton, NC 27527, USA