Murdoch having ‘knee-jerk’ reactions to crisis?

July 14, 2011

With crisis sweeping News Corp. over the phone-hacking scandal at its British tabloid News of the World, chairman Rupert Murdoch has made some decisions that crisis management experts have dubbed knee-jerk reactions.  Murdoch, who withdrew his deal to take over British broadcasting company BSkyB yesterday, closed News of the World very abruptly, a curious move according to a CNNMoney article. And Murdoch and his son James have reportedly made it a priority to protect editor Rebekah Brooks, now chief executive of News International, News Corp.’s UK arm. (Update: Brooks resigned on July 15.)

“It just doesn’t smell right,” said Steven Fink, president and CEO of crisis management firm Lexicon Communications. “You don’t rush out to defend somebody like that who is so close to the fire." Fink also said that shuttering News of the World so quickly may have been the wrong move. “They should have purged the miscreants … and brought in a credible and respectable team of journalists to right the ship,” he said.

Executives often respond to crises with quick, dramatic action. While emotionally satisfying, hasty moves can take you down the wrong path, said Harlan Loeb, a director at Edelman. “What did that decision solve?" he asked. "And how is the company better because of it?”

The best response to a crisis is pinpointing the problem and then controlling the conversation about it, Loeb said. Otherwise, mystery keeps the story alive. — Greg Beaubien

[UPDATE: 7/15/11] According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch defended News Corp.'s handling of the crisis in a recent interview, saying they have responded "extremely well in every way possible," making just "minor mistakes." When asked about the slew of negative headlines in the media, Murdoch replied that he was "just getting annoyed. I'll get over it. I'm tired."

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