Own your mistakes or risk a crisis
If a blogger or reporter publishes genuinely libelous statements and refuses to retract them, then pursuing legal action can force the issue in your favor. If you’ve done wrong though, then you have no choice but to own up and make it right, as this quote from an Agent Genius article explains:
The truth of the matter is that if what you’ve done that is being spread around the web is legitimately bad and you’ve screwed up, a lawsuit is not your answer, and an apology and explanation goes much further than “just be yourself” like the social media gurus are telling you. Some things can be spun, but if not addressed fast enough, you’ll be beyond any professional web scrubber or public relations professional’s help and your only recourse is to apologize, explain, take it on the chin and keep working your butt off. If Alec Baldwin can recover from screaming to his child that she’s a little piggy, your sins will eventually be forgotten by the majority too… IF you own your mistake rather than lie about it or ignore it.
Denying a mistake does nothing but extend your agony and delay the crisis management process. The time to act is the moment you realize a mistake has occurred, and not a second later. In fact, admitting errors before anyone else has realized is a fantastic way to boost your reputation as it demonstrates to stakeholders your honesty and integrity.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/