In crisis management, the end of the ‘Golden Hour’

By JACI CLEMENT //

One of the best illustrations of how disconnected organizations, communities and the news media have become is through the lens of time.

Time means something different depending on where you sit. Those who understand that – and understand that time is ultimately the enemy of both the people being covered by the news and the people working in the news – tend to have the healthiest relationships with the media.

The others? Dysfunction on full display. The fascinating part is they don’t even realize it.

It’s no news that the modern media landscape has collapsed the concept of time. Few, though, realize how profoundly that impacts organizations, communities and regions. Crisis management provides a clear window into just how different things are today.

A bit of backstory is necessary here.

In the world of professional communications, there used to be something called the Golden Hour – the generally accepted window an organization had to respond to a crisis and provide a statement to the news media. The Golden Hour was built for a time when news outlets had daily print and broadcast deadlines. Viewed at the time as nearly impossible to meet, it looks almost luxurious in retrospect.

Today, journalists file multiple times a day to feed the internet. That collapsed the Golden Hour entirely.

What replaced it is now called the Golden Minutes. You can usually count them on one hand.

Crisis management now holds that an organization has zero to 15 minutes to get its act together – issuing a statement, monitoring social media for misinformation, and notifying employees, boards and stakeholders that something has happened and is being handled.

From 15 to 60 minutes, execution is rolling out fast and the crisis is making headlines.

Organizations that aren’t in control of the narrative by then face a harder truth: Whatever narrative exists at the one-to-four-hour mark tends to be the one that holds. Real or not.

Time is a friend to no one here. Organizations experience the media’s pace as bullying – demands for answers before anything can possibly be confirmed. The media reads an unprepared organization as evasive, with something to hide. That creates more questions organizations can’t answer.

The cycle feeds itself.

Very few organizations, no matter how well managed, have the capacity to meet what a modern crisis demands. And if there’s any comfort in that, let’s drain it now: Organizations typically face a significant crisis every three to five years. If things have been quiet, you may be overdue.

Some industries lend themselves more readily to crisis situations than others. Consider what’s been in the news lately. No one wants to go on a cruise right now. Or get a text from Blake Lively. Or a call from PSEG.

Time means something different to everyone. But what happens when it runs out and organizations aren’t ready?

Time becomes public record.

Jaci Clement is the CEO and executive director of the Fair Media Council. This article was originally published by the Fair Media Council and republished with permission.