Defending Good Science

November 3, 2003

Sleeping with the Enemy…

To combat environmental activists, one must do exactly that – combat. It was Winston Winston Churchill who defined an appeaser as “one who continues to feed the alligator others in the hopes he will be the last one eaten.” Unfortunately, appeasement appears to be on the minds of those who just want the activists to go away.

Using the logic of “give them what they want” is often a self-defeating strategy. It can be likened to feeding a school of piranha with half of your foot, and hoping they won’t start to nibble on the rest. Activists exist to attack.

Giving activists partial victories emboldens them to strive for complete victories. Disclosing confidential information under the guise of openness and honesty is akin to giving the enemy the blueprints to your castle. It’s a sure-fire way to see your company or industry sector in the news – but it’s not a headline you will be particularly happy with.

There will always be exceptions to the rule. Just as there are, indeed, activist groups who have legitimate community and environmental concerns, there are also justified, legitimate ways and means of interacting with those individuals. But for every pragmatic, legitimate activist group, the media will flock to many more hardcore wingnuts.

What’s the key to dealing with activist groups? I can break it down into four key points:

• Risk Communications Training. The science of defending your particular industry to a skeptical or biased community is called risk communication. Knowing why or perhaps when to say something is as critical as knowing what to say.
  
• Responsiveness. It’s an old adage in politics and adversarial communications - never let an attack go unanswered. Good communicators take time to develop relationships with affected journalists in advance. They ensure a reporter can find them in the event they need comment on a particular story – rather than see the dreaded “industry spokesperson X was unavailable to address the allegations.”
  
• Awareness. Know anything you can find out about a particular enemy remains a key to long-term victory. Jack Kuehler, the former President of IBM, once said “It is a dangerous thing to think we know everything. Whether it’s an ongoing internet monitoring service, a consulting firm specializing in issues management or some other tactic, the strategic goal is to know where the next attack is coming from.
  
• Creativity. On occasion, it’s possible to turn the tables on a corporate attacker and have them face the spotlight of media inquiry. Whether it’s exploiting a conflict of interest in a funding source or pointing out inconsistencies in method or doctrine, the counter-attack is designed to force activist groups to move elsewhere. By putting the hardcore activist groups on the defensive, it may force them to focus on a softer target.

Industry would be well served to think outside the box, and approach those particular groups or individuals who are upset in the first place. After all, a very fundamental tenet in the principals of risk communication is the establishment of effective and true two-way dialogue.

Where one must invest caution is not the act of effective dialogue – it’s effective dialogue with whom.

For example, when Ford Motor Company was facing activist pressure to do something about gas-guzzling SUV’s, they sat down with some people in the activist community. They established committees, and had what was coined a ‘working dialogue.’

Unfortunately for Ford, one of those activist communities was the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club thanked Ford for the access and dialogue by awarding Ford the “Exxon Valdez” award for environmental destruction.

There is a quick and easy test to determine who’s worth sitting down with in an honest and open dialogue versus going to war – take a look at their fundraising literature. If a group is making money attacking you, they’re not likely to play nice next time they have a fiscal target to meet.

Checkmate Link of the Month

I’m not going to pass judgement on the folks who run “Quackwatch,” but it’s worth checking out. Some say it’s a coalition of Doctors trying to run alternative therapies out the door, others say it’s a good source of information on skeptical medical practices and claims. In any event - http://www.quackwatch.org.

Free Stuff!

Bad things can happen to good companies.
When it happens, the smart companies call Checkmate Public Affairs.

Checkmate Public Affairs specializes in ‘Defending Good Science.’ We stop activists. We manage issues. And we deliver results.

Checkmate is an issues management firm dedicated to assisting corporations with science-based risk & crisis communications and issues management. We are a small firm with a niche practice – which means we aren’t loaded with the overhead and complicated structures of many big agencies.

Do you have any questions? Are you feeling uncomfortable about a situation? Are you on the wrong end of an attack? Why not call us? Checkmate is happy to offer a free, 100% confidential, initial consultation. Let us take you through some basic issues management. If you don’t think we can provide value added service, there’s no risk to you. If your challenge is in an area of our expertise, we’re convinced we can provide an effective solution at a competitive price.

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Jeff Chatterton, President
Checkmate Public Affairs

Phone (519) 342-0025
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