Crisis communications: riding the storm, keeping hold of the narrative and taking accountability

Written by


Esme Roberts

Published


Crisis communications:riding the storm, keeping hold of the narrative and taking accountability

Lessons to be learnt from ITV’s evolving comms crisis at This Morning

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock over the last week, you’ll have heard, watched and read about the scandal surrounding This Morning and one of its anchor presenters – Phillip Schofield. While many have dismissed the controversy as rumours and hearsay, the crisis is set to have wider implications for ITV and its senior management.

ITV is no stranger to a crisis. In 2018, Ant McPartlin, half of the UK’s favorite double act – Ant & Dec, was suspended after a drink-driving crash. The following year, the broadcaster took The Jeremy Kyle Show off air following the suicide of a guest, and in 2021 Piers Morgan dramatically stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain after a row about Meghan Markle.

Yet here we are, ITV is riding the storm once more. But are the channel’s responses and actions really cutting it this time round? The advertisers and sponsors pulling the plug on their deals, and the fluctuating share price suggests not.  When it comes to managing and communicating in crisis, there are a set of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ to be followed.

Fast and effective communications

Failure to communicate and immediately address the situation suggests a lack of control – or worse – an attempt to hide the truth. In this case, the media – and particularly GB News – have continued to run with the story. Questions and accusations are unexplained and unanswered, and ITV seems to have lost control of the narrative altogether.

When a situation like this continues to escalate, staying silent is simply not an option. Being flexible and timely with communications is absolutely crucial if you are to keep hold of the fast-moving situation. It’s important the public sees what action ITV is taking to address these allegations, yet the broadcaster’s statement on Saturday did nothing of the sort. Its attempt to close the story down failed and has put This Morning, ITV and its senior management further on the back foot.

Leadership

Carolyn McCall, former CEO of the Guardian and easyJet, was appointed chief executive in 2018. While she isn’t involved in the ‘day to day’, she is ultimately responsible for continuing to pull in viewers in a digital age and securing big contracts with sponsors and advertisers. Away from the screen, she has a commitment to keeping shareholders happy – and the share price itself healthy.

Following complaints that those in the most senior roles at ITV knew about an inappropriate relationship between Schofield and a junior colleague, ITV bosses are expected to be grilled by MPs over its complicity in enabling a toxic working culture on This Morning.

In its statement on Saturday, ITV claimed to have “investigated” the rumours of the said relationship in 2020 but didn’t outline any actions it will be taking to look into this further. To add fuel to the fire, former employees have shared emails contradicting ITV’s statement and have personally accused the CEO and senior management of a “cover up” to protect one of the channel’s “favourites”.

Now is not the time for senior figures at ITV to shy away – their shareholders, stakeholders and employees will want to know if and when a full investigation will take place. Confidence needs to be restored and ITV needs to demonstrate to all its stakeholders – internal and external – that it is taking the issue seriously and acting accordingly.  

No one can know all the answers, but Carolyn and her team must face the crisis and take accountability – a human face proving to tackle the situation head on can go a long way.

Internal communications and employee wellbeing

How organisations treat their employees during a crisis will undoubtedly form part of its legacy. Getting this wrong risks damaging a reputation that an organisation has worked so hard to build. Unfortunately for ITV, it continues to pay the price from the mistakes it made some years ago.

Eamon Holmes, Dan Wootton and Dr Ranj Singh have all spoken out against ITV’s senior management. Consequently, the accusations have portrayed an image of a toxic working culture fuelled by favouritism and covering up – leading to more unanswered questions and stoking further media interest.

To recover, ITV must demonstrate leadership and empathy by communicating with employees regularly – taking accountability for their welfare.

Three golden rules

Honesty, transparency and timeliness are the three communication essentials in the midst of a crisis. In situations like this, where rumours quickly spread and information becomes muddled – the comms team must ease the storm.  

Various statements flying around different channels look messy and chaotic. ITV should always be the first to communicate – fronted by the people at the top of the chain. This should be followed by Holly Willoughby and the other presenters of This Morning.

Its ‘nothing to see here’ approach clearly isn’t working, and in light of the grooming allegations – it needs to be more transparent and honest, and fast.   

Moving on

How This Morning and ITV bounce back from this remains to be seen. But moving on needs to be authentic, demonstrating how it’s learnt from this and continuously engages with all its stakeholders in a positive and responsible manner.

In the coming weeks, I suspect we’ll see several resignations coming from the powers that be at ITV – whether this happens soon enough is another matter.

If you would like to hear more, or discuss crisis communications and reputational management with our team, please contact us here

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