Media bullies gang up on Wal-Mart

Poor Wal-Mart. They’re being flogged once again by a gaggle of superficial news media who portray the big box boys as blood-suckers.

Superficially, they look like horrid, insensitive bad guys. They’ve demanded that a brain-injured gold-star mother who received money in a settlement over her accident reimburse them for medical bills Wal-Mart insurance has paid.

I say "superficial" because if one looks deeper, the "bad guy" here is the attorney who represented the injured woman.

It’s called subrogation, and is not at all unusual. When an insurance company pays out money for a covered claim, that insurance company has the right to recover their expenses if the beneficiary receives money from another source for the same expenses. The woman’s attorney was negligent in not including subrogation costs in the settlement or jury finding.

But that seems to be a moot point since so many people love hating Wal-Mart.

What will it take for Wal-Mart to dig out of its PR hole? Once you’re branded a bad guy in the court of public opinion, it's a constant battle to change your image.

Do you have a crisis management plan to avoid falling into the hole with Wal-Mart?

How many mistakes can you find in this news story?

I don't know whether this blog is about natural gas crisis management or the quality of the news story. I'm leaning to the latter.

If you're not familiar with the natural gas industry, you may not catch the errors. (Hint: carbon monoxide is the byproduct of the incomplete combustion of a fossil fuel. Carbon dioxide is what we exhale when we breathe.)

No matter your answer, one thing is certain: the gas company has a wonderful opportunity to help educate the reporter, and ultimately the general public/consumers. Let's hope they do.

BTW, check out Source Gas's Website--very user-friendly.

Bloggers have major influence

Blue Daze obviously does not like gas pipelines. She took advantage of a distribution line explosion in far south Texas to promulgate fear.

A local firefighter said they were not sure exactly how this explosion happened but they are aware of similar explosion that happen across the United States. "They happen every now and then, they're pipelines and they're subject to wear and tear just like any other equipment that's out here."

Events like this make for great TV coverage, which is just natural. But where was the statement from the pipeline operator? Why didn't the company have a spokesperson on the spot? Or if that wasn't possible, they certainly could have conducted a phone interview.

The greater issue here, in addition to the loca l news coverage, is the widespread influence of bloggers like Blue Daze. The story appeared on more news sites than I could count, including one that caters to the paranoid.
If you care what the public thinks about your business, be certain you're monitoring blogs just as carefully as the traditional news media.

Reservoir of good will keeping Southwest Airlines afloat

A devastating revelation that aircraft were not being inspected as mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration could permanently ground a lesser organization. But Southwest Airlines has a deep reservoir of good will and they took massive action on multiple fronts.

OK, I admit to being biased about Southwest. I’m a Texan with friends who started their careers with LUV. So I cringed with the announcement that the airline was flying in the face of FAA regulations. I held my breath, pondering what to say about this, waiting to see what they would say and do.

I’m gratified by their response. They grounded planes for inspections and put several staff on leave. Then the big wigs flew to DC to sit down with the FAA to work out the details of a massive fine and trace the problem back to the beginning point.

No whining. No excuses. Lots of action.

Sitting on the outside watching this pro cess develop, I don’t know yet what grade to give Southwest. There are many details and actions yet to come. But I’m inclined to believe they will do the right thing. Maybe it’s that reservoir of good will they’ve built up over the decades.

Firefighters use incident to score political points

Boston firefighters used an LNG incident in the harbor to score points against the city, in part to emphasize their ongoing contract negotiations. Did the firefighters blow the situation out of proportion, or do they have a valid point? Does it matter?

The Well, actually, it does matter. The damage has been done--the public is likely to be afraid of continued LNG transport by ship. If an organization wants to make an issue of it, they now have something to rally around. The city's response that it is "as prepared as possible" to mitigate the risks of LNG transport was not a reassuring statement. How prepared is it? What is the risk to property and life?

The firefighters want the LNG to be transported through existing pipelines from the port rather than up the river by boat. Would that be more or less safe?

So far the LNG distributor seems to be getting off light on this one. And the city, too. Bu t they shouldn't count on it in the long run.

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