Where Media Meets Communication
The crisis communications playbook hasn’t been rewritten. But the distribution model has. Here’s what changed in the last twelve months, and what it means for crisis communications in 2026.
If you’re not sure how your organisation would show up if someone asked ChatGPT or Perplexity about you mid-crisis, that’s worth finding out before you need to. Get in touch to talk through how prepared you are.
Blaming the PR team has become a bit of a trend. And it’s getting predictable.
You know things aren’t going well when the PR advisors are in the news.
The pattern is always the same. Something doesn’t land. The public aren’t buying it. And suddenly it’s the Comms team’s fault for not “messaging it better.”
Never mind that we said it wouldn’t work. Never mind that we flagged exactly what would happen. Never mind that some things genuinely cannot be spun.
It’s just easier to blame the people who had to explain it than admit the thing itself was the problem.
But here’s what nobody says out loud: good PR advisors tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. And sometimes what you need to hear is “this is going to be difficult.”
When that advice gets ignored and it does, in fact, turn into a disaster, well, apparently that’s still the PR’s fault.
The PR team didn’t create the crisis. We just got stuck explaining it. And sometimes you can’t comms your way out of a crisis.
Next time you see a leader pointing at their communications team, just remember: you know things really aren’t going well when the people behind the scenes become the story.
If you want communications advice that’s built to stand up under real pressure, not just sound good in the room, get in touch to find out how we work with leadership teams before, during and after a crisis.
I’ve spent 14 years in crisis communications. Here are the 6 things I think matter most.
I’ve watched organisations with brilliant crisis protocols completely fall apart because the person who needed to use them had never opened the document.
The CEO freezes when asked a basic question. The spokesperson defaults to jargon. The plan was perfect. The people weren’t ready.
Documents can’t think. They can’t adapt when something unexpected happens. People manage crises. And if they haven’t practiced, the plan won’t save them.
You can’t control what gets posted about you. You can’t control how fast misinformation spreads. You definitely can’t control the narrative once it’s out there.
What you can control: whether people believe you when you finally respond.
And much of that is built before the crisis hits, not during it.
One media training session doesn’t work.
People need to practice answering the challenging questions repeatedly until the response is instinctive. Out loud. Under pressure. With someone pushing back on their answers.
That’s the only thing that holds up when a journalist asks “Are you saying the customer is wrong?” and you have two seconds to respond.
I get it. Legal needs to review. But by the time your statement clears three rounds of edits, thousands of people have already formed opinions based on something false.
Sometimes fast and good enough beats slow and perfect.
Not always, but typically more often than most organisations realise.
Not The Times. Not the BBC.
Reddit threads. Industry forums. Discord servers.
That’s where your crisis is building whilst you’re watching traditional media and thinking everything’s fine.
I’ve seen this pattern repeat: the issue’s been spreading on Reddit for three days before it crosses over to X, then journalists notice, then your CEO finds out.
By then, you’re not managing the crisis. You’re fighting misinformation.
I’ve run many crisis simulations. The pattern is often the same.
Organisations handle the first issue competently. Decision-making works. Communications activate. Then we introduce a second issue twenty minutes later.
The collapse happens predictably.
The crisis team becomes a bottleneck. Spokespeople freeze. Internal comms fail because employees are getting contradictory information.
That’s what you need to prepare for. Not one crisis. But at least two happening simultaneously.
14 years between these photos. Still learning.
If your organisation hasn’t pressure-tested its crisis response, now is a good time to start. Get in touch to talk through how prepared your team really is, or find out more about our crisis management and media training services.
2 sisters working together?
Crisis superpowers, journalistic expertise, snacks 🥜
This is how Jess Mangold and I make it work…
Jess on Abby – “She puts people at ease within seconds, finding common ground and camaraderie, even in high-pressure crisis situations”
“Seamless makeup application for being on camera. What she doesn’t know about this topic is not worth worrying about.”
“Bringing and holding people together in a crisis, uniting individuals and the group. It’s her crisis communications superpower.”
Abby on Jess – “Her prep is second to none. Training notes, research, making time to practice – you name it, she’s prepped!”
“Snacks! Jess is not one to go hungry, so she avoids team energy dips by always having a healthy snack squirrelled away in her backpack.”
“She’s great at remembering reports she’s read, or experiences as a journalist; neatly sliding them into conversations with clients to add colour and demonstrate our expertise.”
We’ve been working with this retail client for 5 years.
We’ve gone through the good times and the tougher ones.
We’ve supported each other to grow as organisations.
So we were chuffed when they told us:
“Abby and Jess consistently provide clear thinking and boil down complex matters, into concise guidance.
As media trainers they are industry experts, give honest and fair feedback in a safe environment.
They are the critical friends you want on speed dial.”
I’m told it’s time for a (re)introduction.
Press play and let me begin!
Some people are surprised to discover Jess Mangold and I are sisters.
Don’t judge by appearance. Judge on results.
Credit to BBC Watchdog for their investigation on last night’s programme which lead to BMW announcing a recall of hundreds of thousands of cars.
The truth is that no one really knows what goes on inside an organisation during a crisis, apart from the people managing it. There are often multiple business objectives which reach far beyond being featured on the programme. Continue reading “Kudos to my ex colleagues at BBC Watchdog”
