Steve Adubato, a politician, author, broadcaster, and motivational speaker, released his book, What Were They Thinking? in 2008 to discuss what went wrong (or sometimes right) in various communication disasters in the past. He begins the book by presenting his overall view of crisis case studies. The first point is that there is always a lesson to be learned.
Whether the organization communicated quickly and effectively to key stakeholders or failed miserably in a press conference, Adubato notes that you can look back on public relations case studies and apply what they did nor did not do in a crisis to your own organization. Secondly, he explains what he calls “The Clinton Effect.” Former President Bill Clinton went through a very public scandal during his presidency, yet he is still very well liked among the American public. This is all because he has a rare combination of charisma and charm that makes people like him no matter what he has done. Adubato makes the point that most people do not have this, therefore organizations should not assume that their companies will recover from crises, but should instead be proactive and prepared to deal with whatever disaster may occur.
Throughout the book, Adubato presents twenty-two different crisis case studies ranging from the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech to the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal. Each case is discussed in detail, followed by a communication analysis and lessons learned section. In my opinion, the most interesting case study was about the Glen Ridge rape incident in 1989. In this case, players on a high school football team raped a mentally handicapped girl in a basement. Rose McCaffery, the school superintendent was appointed as the spokesperson and repeatedly communicated the message that they would stand by the football players and support them. She conveyed to audiences that she did not care about the horrible thing that happened to the girl and seemed disheveled and unorganized on camera. This communication disaster was one that I connected to, emotionally, and learned a lot from in the end.
I would highly recommend this book for any type of communication class, especially crisis communication. The case studies are very relatable and are ones that most people probably remember seeing on television or hearing about when they actually occurred. Adubato’s approach is very interesting and entertaining, yet still educating. In his “Lessons Learned” sections, he presents key takeaways that can be applied to any crisis situation in any organization. Overall, I have learned a lot from this book and feel that it will help me be a better public relations professional in the future.
Brittany Nona
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Whether the organization communicated quickly and effectively to key stakeholders or failed miserably in a press conference, Adubato notes that you can look back on public relations case studies and apply what they did nor did not do in a crisis to your own organization. Secondly, he explains what he calls “The Clinton Effect.” Former President Bill Clinton went through a very public scandal during his presidency, yet he is still very well liked among the American public. This is all because he has a rare combination of charisma and charm that makes people like him no matter what he has done. Adubato makes the point that most people do not have this, therefore organizations should not assume that their companies will recover from crises, but should instead be proactive and prepared to deal with whatever disaster may occur.
Throughout the book, Adubato presents twenty-two different crisis case studies ranging from the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech to the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal. Each case is discussed in detail, followed by a communication analysis and lessons learned section. In my opinion, the most interesting case study was about the Glen Ridge rape incident in 1989. In this case, players on a high school football team raped a mentally handicapped girl in a basement. Rose McCaffery, the school superintendent was appointed as the spokesperson and repeatedly communicated the message that they would stand by the football players and support them. She conveyed to audiences that she did not care about the horrible thing that happened to the girl and seemed disheveled and unorganized on camera. This communication disaster was one that I connected to, emotionally, and learned a lot from in the end.
I would highly recommend this book for any type of communication class, especially crisis communication. The case studies are very relatable and are ones that most people probably remember seeing on television or hearing about when they actually occurred. Adubato’s approach is very interesting and entertaining, yet still educating. In his “Lessons Learned” sections, he presents key takeaways that can be applied to any crisis situation in any organization. Overall, I have learned a lot from this book and feel that it will help me be a better public relations professional in the future.
Brittany Nona
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill