Today, I came across a simple (albeit tongue-in-cheek) article (by someone unknown) which I had left somewhere in an obscure corner. It relates an interesting process on how you (as a communication officer) can revise and improvise on your communication messaging to the public, when a bad news happens to your government agency.
The Facts:
| TIMBAKTU TRAIN DISRUPTION / April 9, 2011Around 6,900 commuters were stranded yesterday afternoon as train services between the Greenwood and Grenhill train stations were disrupted for about 45 minutes.Bridging bus services were deployed to ferry the passengers between both stations, while the staff took care of the body of the man who jumped upon the track when a train arrived at the station.Passengers who were unable to complete their journey can claim a full fare refund at the passenger service centre at any railway ticketing counters. |
If you are the communications manager, how would you will start to draft the title of your report for the press to publish to the public? Perhaps the following guide will be helping for you, to convert something bad to good. Take a look.
1st version : Man committed suicide at train station and crushed by train.
Not good…. too factual and maybe subject to questioning e.g. why did he commit suicide?
2nd Version : Man jumps onto railway track and is hit by oncoming train.
Hmm… still not good. ‘Jump’ may still suggest suicide. Change to “fall”…
3rd version : Man falls onto the railway track and is hit by train.
Look, why not just combine the two segment and make it short and sweet? Hmm..
4th version: Man hit by train at railway station.
Do people even care about the man?? Just focus on the train services being disrupted.
5th Version : Trains services disrupted at railway station.
Let’s soften the impact by using “delay” instead of “disrupted”.
6th Version: Trains services delayed at railway station.
Hey, let’s add the “slight” into the delay, and perhaps be nice to apologise for any inconvenience caused?
7th Version: Slight delay, sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Can we look for any positive aspects to report?
8th Version: Free bridging bus services and tickets refund available during minor railway disruption.
Ahh… perfect, positive publicity! This should go to the press.
Yes, it may be entertaining to see how the “thoughts” flow through the mind of the editor. But this is probably close to reality, when a public transport government agency is dealt with an accident like this, and had to report the incident without looking bad and inviting too many questions. The power of the human mind to churn and morph the negative news or facts and change it into a positive news is something remarkable and even amazing, I’d say. =D
