Exxon Still Reeling from '89 Oil Spill

It is hard not to dwell on the crisis management aspect of PR when it is at the forefront of publicity. Think about it, you know all about Enron but when's the last time you read a press release regarding the mayor of Oregon's plan to open a new general store on Main Street? Crisis management is important because instead of making the mistakes yourself, you can watch others and learn what NOT to do. We once discussed the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 as an example of ineffective crisis management. Obviously, the crisis in question was detrimental to the environment of Cordova, Alaska but it seems that there are lasting effects on Exxon as well. Today the Associated Press issued a release citing that Exxon will go before the U.S. Supreme Court this Wednesday. Why, you may ask? Well, in 1994 a jury in Anchorage, Alaska awarded the victims of the incident $5 billon in punitive damages (recall the video the former Exxon CEO's response to how to fix the damages to the Alaskan fishing industry). Following the court ruling, Exxon Mobil Corp. made a series of court appeals and the amount to be paid in damages has since been cut in half. Now, it turns out that $2.5 billion is too much for a company which made a profit of $40.6 billion in 2007! Is it really so "unconstitutional" to ask Exxon to pay punitive damages which equates to a measly 6% of their annual profit? Is it cruel and unusual punishment to ask them to pay for an incident which is their fault?

33,000 plaintiffs including Alaskan commercial fisherman, natives, landowners, businesses, and local governments stand to lose the $2.5 billion judgment if the high court sides with Exxon. For the record, the oil spill ruined 1,200 miles of Alaskan shoreline and killed hundreds and thousands of animals which were indigenous to the region. In actually there is not amount of money that can make up for the loss of life to an ecosystem, but punitive damages meant to be paid out of moral responsibility apparently hurt big business far more.

In my opinion, Exxon seems to maintain a tone of insensitivity on the matter. Apparently Exxon should no longer be held accountable for the incident because of an estimated $3.5 billion paid in clean up costs (even though there is still an estimated 85 tons of lingering crude). Not to mention the fact that the skipper of the Exxon Valdez was the true culprit. Last time I checked, in a corporation the liability in a crisis does not rest on individuals.

Golfweek Goofs on Network Scoop

Whether or not you watch the Golf Channel or subscribe to Golfweek Magazine, chances are that you're familiar with the name Tiger Woods. After all he is arguably the greatest golfer alive today; the Michael Jordan of golf if you will. In contrast, it seemed that until recently no one was familiar with the Golf Channel's now infamous correspondent Kelly Tilghman. That is, until she committed a highly controversial on-air faux pas on January 4th. The incident which led to Tilghman's media notoriety and a two-week suspension from broadcasting involved her attempt to offer what she viewed as a comical suggestion as to how up and coming professional golfers could beat Woods. Without any sign of noticeable consideration, she chuckled while saying, "lynch him in a back alley" just before making what seemed like an awkward pause. Nevertheless, Tiger who is of multi-racial Asian, Caucasian and African American descent made a statement that the comment made by Tilghman was unfortunate, but that he had spoken with her and that there was no ill intent on her part.

After Tiger spoke on the matter the story seemingly should have come to an end, however, Golfweek Magazine had other plans. When the January 19th issue of Golfweek hit newsstands many readers were shocked to find the stark image of a noose plastered across the cover of the publication. Can you say PR disaster? I cannot even begin to understand how anyone could think that this would be a good idea for the cover of any magazine of which Don Imus is not the editor. I mean, surely no editor who wished to keep their job would approve such a thing, right? The "higher ups" at Turnstile Publishing Company which owns Golfweek were not too pleased with former editor and vice president Dave Seanor's poor decision to approve the distasteful cover either as they released him on January 22.

Following Seanor's termination, Turnstile Publishing Co. president William J. Kupper released a statement citing, "We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country." Kelly Tilghman returned to the Golf Channel today and began her initial post-suspension telecast by issuing what appeared to be sincere apology. "For the last two weeks I've taken the time to reflect and truly understand the impact of what I said. While I need not intend to offend anyone, I understand why those words were hurtful. I am terribly sorry for any hurt that I have caused. I would like to express my deepest apologies." Nice recovery Kelly! It is nice to see that in the wake of Don Imus' notorious comments about the Rutgers Women's basketball team that some media outlets took notes. Despite the fact that this three-week long ordeal resulted in both a job suspension and termination, I believe that all parties involved handled the situation in a timely and effective manner.

The discussion of the importance of an organization's key publics from the class lecture on January 10th should make more sense if you follow the progression of this story. Although, technically, one party was to blame for the whole incident it snowballed into a much bigger problem. Once this snowballing effect occurred, one person's mistake became the responsibility of multiple parties within each organization in order for them to maintain good standings with their respective internal and external publics. This scandal was about much more than losing potential viewers or readers as both the Golf Channel and Golfweek Magazine stood to lose money from advertisers had they failed to resolve this PR nightmare.