PR RESPONSES FROM THE GULF COAST OIL SPILL

Lisa K. Lundy, Ph.D., APRAssociate Dean, Sponsored Research & Programs Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University

The good, the bad, and the

ugly

Massive Explosion and Oil Leak

On April 20, 2010 a rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 52 miles southeast of Venice, LA, exploded and caught fire.

• 11 crew members dead• An estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil leaked in to the Gulf from April to July

On the Magnitude of the Disaster “If we have a three-month oil spill, we're

talking about absolute devastation of the largest coastal fishery in the U.S… I guess our biggest concern is, we may have to redefine what an oil spill is. We may have to redefine what a catastrophe is. What if we have globules of oil that stay in the water column and continue to come ashore month after month after month?” - Ralph Portier, environmental science professor, Louisiana State University

Can we say CRISIS?

Crisis Communication

Effective crisis management can reduce the time it takes to complete the crisis life cycle, prevent a loss of sales, limit reputational damage, preclude development of public policy issues, save money, and protect lives, health, and the environment.

Keys to Effective Post-Crisis Communication

Be quick and try to have initial response within the first hour.

Be accurate by carefully checking all facts. Be consistent by keeping spokespeople informed of crisis

events and key message points. Make public safety the number one priority. Use all of the available communication channels including

the Internet, Intranet, and mass notification systems. Provide some expression of concern/sympathy for victims Remember to include employees in the initial response. Be ready to provide stress and trauma counseling to victims

of the crisis and their families, including employees.

How did BP respond?

BP PR Blunders

1) “I’d like my life back.”

2) “I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest.”

Attempts at Image Repair

BP's YouTube Page

Images of the BP Response

The Cost of Crisis

BP spent more than $93 million on advertising between April and July, 3 times more than the previous year

As of Sept. 1, BP had spent about $6.1 billion on the oil spill

Provided $89.5 million in grants to aid tourism efforts in FL, AL, MS and LA

Analysis of BP Response

“As one of the biggest companies in the world, you'd have thought they'd have a plan for everything. That doesn't seem to be the case.” Danny Shipka, assistant professor, Manship

School, LSU “It's a public relations disaster. Hayward has

worked so hard to right the ship over the last three years, and now this. Everything he did is now meaningless.” Fadel Gheit, oil analyst, Oppenheimer & Co

How did the White House respond?

Obama and the Oil Spill

President Obama made his first trip to LA about 12 days after the explosion

Some asked if the spill could be “Obama’s Katrina”

News Headlines

“Barack Obama under fire for grossly underestimating Gulf oil spill” The Guardian

“Obama team criticized for Gulf Coast oil spill estimates” USA Today

“Spill Panel Finds US Was Slow to React” Wall Street Journal

“For the first ten days of the spill, it appears that a sense of over-optimism affected responders. While it is not clear that this misplaced optimism affected any individual response effort, it may have affected the scale and speed with which national resources were brought to bear.”

-National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

On May 21, President Obama established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and

Offshore Drilling by executive order

"To the people here in the Gulf, we are going to be standing by your side. And to Americans all across the country, come on down and visit."

Analysis of White House Response PBS News Report

How did other governmental entities respond?

Analysis of State Response

After “Governor Jindal named himself State On-Scene Coordinator,” his actions “slowed decision-making and caused problems in the response efforts.” – National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

LA Seafood Board

Active on Twitter and Facebook http://twitter.com/#!/LaSeafoodBoard http://www.facebook.com/#!/LouisianaSeaf

ood

How did Gulf Coast travel & tourism respond?

Tourism Spots

Alabama Gulf Coast Florida Gulf Coast Mississippi Gulf Coast Louisiana Tourism

Research Grants

Covering the Oil Spill

LSU researchers, working with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island, are working to improve the accuracy and coverage of science news relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Science Foundation, or NSF, chose to support the group’s work with a rapid response grant, allowing a three-state sequence of workshops and evaluation.

Thank you!