McDonald's Bends, Then Breaks Like a Carrot Stick Prize in a Happy Meal

I remember my mom making me stay at the table until I finished my vegetables. I eventually learned to eat fruit and vegetables and by adulthood to actually enjoy them. But to this day, put an apple and potato chips in front of me and there's no doubt which I choose.

I'm finished raising my children. Both are college educated (with Master's), are married, own their own homes, dress themselves daily, choose their friends, and select what they want from a menu when they go out. I don't make choices for them anymore, but there's some clown who thinks that's his job.

His name is Ronald McDonald.

Although my kids stopped ordering Happy Meals a long time ago (I think they did), my grandchildren will have fewer choices at McDonald's than I did or my offspring did. Parental choice under the Golden Arches has been usurped.

A crisis? Maybe. Short of serving salmonella as a side, a change in Happy Meal fare isn't likely to cause so much as a polite burp on McDonald's bottom line. But fast-food sellers and package-foods makers had best beware: Mother (Or Big Brother?) is lurking, just waiting to force today's kids to eschew fats and sugars in favor of fruit and vegetables.

Using Happy Meal toys to lure unsuspecting children has been criticized by parents, public health officials, and lawmakers who are concerned with rising childhood obesity rates and poor anti-obesity efforts from restaurant operators.

"Stephen Gardner, litigation director for CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), said: 'McDonald’s is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children. McDonald’s use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children’s developmental immaturity.'" (http://hometestingblog.testcountry.com/?p=8697)

He forgot to say the sky is falling.

On the other hand: "A child could once feel excitement over hearing a parent utter those beautiful words: 'honey, we‘re going to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal.' But those carefree days are over and that sense of childhood wonderment and abandon is about to be seriously curbed by a new McDonald’s policy that cuts an order of fries in half, throws apple slices, raisins and pineapple chunks around as if they were ketchup, and just generally makes Happy Meals 'healthier,' and, less happy. And even though the apples are reportedly not well-received by customers, guess what? McDonald’s is forcing the fruit in its Happy Meals anyway. Whether you want it or not." (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/more-fruit-fewer-fries-michelle-obama-might-have-taken-the-happy-out-of-mcdonalds-happy-meals/)

I don't know how things work in your household, but I always found "No" to be an effective deterrent to behavior I didn't allow. One of our family jokes was to call me "Mr. No." Nevertheless, my kids didn't love me less. I think they are better adults because they learned they can't have everything they want.

If a kid wants a Happy Meal and the adult thinks ordering one will make the child chronically fat his whole life, then what's wrong with exercising a little "no?" Why use regulation and political pressure to take away that choice from other parents, just because some are afraid of the scarring "no" might leave behind.

Are you listening, Wendy? General Foods, Post, Kellogg's and others, you need to be preparing defense of your prizes and sugar content. Advertising "Free celery in every box!" might do it.

"According to reports, the fast food giant will offer apple slices, half-portions of french fries and the beverages of choice will now include 1% milk and fat-free chocolate milk. Ironically, since introduced, the apple slices are apparently not even popular in the Happy Meals with only 11 percent of customers — be them children or adults — opting for the fruit. Regardless, McDonald’s is making the fruit a default item in the Happy Meal. So whether you want apples or not, you are going to get them."

You probably remember elementary school as well as I do. If we bought our lunch in the cafeteria, we ate the burger or pizza or hot dog and threw away the fruit cup or carrot stick or succotash. Those who carried their lunches were offered trades for their chips and cookies.

These days, schools are replacing soft drinks in machines with healthy fruit drinks. But those same kids can't wait to get home and snack on Ho Hos and Pepsi. There's probably not a single juice box in the refrigerator.

The secret isn't what we put into our bodies as much as it is what we do with calories after they are consumed. Do our kids burn their calories playing X-Box or playing baseball? Would they rather text their friends or ride bikes with them?

Whatever they want to do is fine with some parents; just don't say "no." That's up to Ronald, who comes wielding apple wedges in place of fries, and my mom, who thinks we'll die unless we finish our lima beans.

Ignoring my sarcasm and personal biases, and no matter what you think of Brussels sprouts, you in the food industry need to include a section in your crisis communications plan to cover negative publicity campaigns, or whatever you choose to call them. The weapons of choice in the past for those angry mobs used to be news releases and protest signs. Now Facebook pages, blogs, texts, and tweets can reach millions instantly. There won't be time for you to develop messages and strategies after you first hear about the health crusaders' latest quest. You need to be ready.

Don't wait for the other clown shoe to drop.

How To Use Goofy Movies To Learn Crisis Communications

It's about time I come out of the closet.

I admit: I love goofy movies. I don't think that's the formal name of the genre, but I'm referring to films like Airplane, Hot Shots, and The Naked Gun. The more puns, the more slapstick, the more sight gags, the better. My favorite movie of all time is Young Frankenstein.

I was watching Airplane II again last week while working out in the basement. I don't know how many times I've seen it, but it still makes me laugh. One brief give-and-take reminded me of the approach many use when confronted with a crisis.

In the scene, a lieutenant and his sergeant are at a lunar base discussing a lunar shuttle filled with passengers on their way to the moon. But the space craft has developed problems.

Lieutenant: "Their computer's down they've lost their crew, and they're flying on manual controls, Sir...."

Sargent Murdock (aka William Shattner): Lieutenant, how would you handle this?"

Lieutenant: "We could try ignoring it, Sir."

Murdock: "I see. Pretend nothing has happened and hope everything turns out all right in the morning."

Lieutenant: "Just a thought, Sir."

Murdock: "I'll consider that."

It's funny in the movie, but it's not so funny if you're part of a similar exchange between, say your company's legal council and the CEO.

"Okay. 'Your company's legal council and the CEO.'"

Now let's say only you know that the way to handle this crisis is to rely on your crisis plan.

"Only you know that the way to handle this crisis is to rely on your crisis plan."

You need a crisis plan? What's the matter? What is is?

"It's a three-ring binder collecting dust on a shelf. But that's not important right now. We have to save that ship."

Surely you aren't suggesting we use that plan we spent all that time and money to create and think it's better than flying by the seat of our pants!

"I am. And stop calling me Shirley."

Meanwhile, up in the cockpit, the crew has just discovered the craft has a problem. I'm reminded of a little piece of advice the Institute for Crisis Management gives media training participants. If you don 't know the answer to a reporter's question, say, "I don't know." Be careful not to respond with what we may sometimes come back with: "I can't say," when we really mean we don't know. Such a response can be interpreted to mean, "I know, but I'm not telling."

Or as they say in Airplane II: "Uh, Captain, I'm picking up an overheating in the computer core."
Captain Unger (Peter Graves): "How serious is it, Mr. Dunn?"

Dunn: "I can't tell, Sir."

Unger: "You can tell me. I'm the captain."

Coal Crises Get Shared Like a Cold At a Hookers' Convention

The closer one studies current events in the coal mines of the eastern U.S., the harder it is to identify who is in crisis. Maybe the answer is "everybody," at least some of the time.

For example, here's a story that includes politicians who claim the coal industry is too tightly regulated, environmentalists who say the government isn't doing enough, employees quietly risking their lives who need the paycheck, and community members like those who sued a coal company for health impacts and won.

Elected leaders who represent eastern and western Kentucky, along with those serving other states, wouldn't be so popular at the polls if they bashed the coal companies. Plus they would lose political contributions from companies and their top individuals if they pressed for tighter regulations.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knows that fact of political life. In a speech before the Kentucky Coal Association in May, McConnell received warm reactions when he criticized EPA for being overly aggressive against coal. According to the Associated Press, McConnell claimed EPA's regulatory decisions "'defy logic.' The Kentucky Republican accused the agency of 'changing the rules in the middle of the game' with a burdensome permitting process designed to stymie the industry. This, in turn, has put many Kentucky mining operations in limbo.

"'What EPA is doing is outside the scope of its authority and the law, and it represents a fundamental departure from the permitting process as originally envisioned by Congress. And it's time for Congress to rein the EPA in.'" (http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/McConnell-bashes-EPA-in-speech-to-coal-group-1404758.php)

Environmentalists were quick to counter. "'We as a nation are very interested in not passing on our debt ... to our children,' (Campaign Director of Appalachian Voices Lenny) Kohm said, 'and it puzzles me that some politicians don't feel that it is as important to pass on a healthy and sustainable environment to those same children.'

"Doug Doerrfeld, a member of the environmental and social justice group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, said McConnell's speech 'shows how completely out of touch he is with both his constituents and science.' Recent EPA actions 'will prevent the needless deaths and sickness of thousands of Kentuckians,' Doerrfeld said. 'EPA is doing exactly what Congress mandated when it created the federal agency.'"

McConnell said forcing EPA to hurry its permitting process wouldn't have any effect on the environment. "'Of course the EPA's real goal here is not to see the Kentucky coal industry comply with its boatload of regulations and red tape,' he said. 'It's to see the Kentucky coal industry driven out of business altogether.'"

McConnell isn't the only politician coming down on the side of big coal. "Early this year, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear criticized 'Washington bureaucrats' for trying to impose 'arbitrary and unreasonable regulations on the mining of coal. To them I say: 'Get off our backs!'

"Beshear is seeking a second term this year. Both Beshear and his Republican opponent, state Senate President David Williams, have called for the EPA to ease restrictions that have made it difficult for coal companies to open new mountaintop mines or to expand existing ones.

Freshman Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky came under attack during last year's campaign by "union coal miners and a prominent mine safety expert for questioning the federal regulation of mining in a national magazine....

"'Is there a certain amount of accidents and unfortunate things that do happen, no matter what the regulations are?' Paul said in response to a question about a West Virginia mine explosion in April (2010) that killed 29 workers. 'The bottom line is I'm not an expert, so don't give me the power in Washington to be making rules....'"

Investigators have concluded that the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion and cave-in last year that killed 29 was caused by numerous violations of the law, and because the company, Massey Energy, kept two sets of books on safety and inspections. That may be part of the reason why "Tony Oppegard, a Lexington attorney who is a mine-safety advocate, called Paul's statement 'idiotic.'" (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/03/98546/rand-paul-faces-resistance-from.html)

Patty Amburgey of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth would beg to differ with Paul. "There can be no restoration when mountaintop removal moves into your community. I’ve been fighting bad coal companies since I was nine years old and a company used a broad form deed to force their way onto our homeplace to auger mine. In the last forty years, I’ve seen strip mining, deep mining, auger mining, mine blowouts, sludge pond breaks, blasting and flooding. But mountaintop removal is the worst." (http://www.kftc.org/our-work/canary-project)

Okay, so far we see politicians in a form of crisis because, if they come from coal states, their contributions and chances for re-election diminish if they favor tougher mining restrictions. We see environmentalists with the problem of limited resources to take on coal company money and political strength. At the same time, I saw when I was a member of an Idaho environmental group during the Reagan years, that adversity may hamper effectiveness, but it also opens up the pocketbooks of conservationists. Under most circumstances, it's a lack of political opposition to environmentalists' goals that causes a crisis.

We see the EPA torn in different directions depending on who is in the White House and who leads Congress. The Tea Party and its message of smaller government and less regulation should be viewed as a crisis to EPA bureaucrats. Note that the level of EPA crisis is inversely proportional to the level of environmental groups' crisis.

Now to those who live near the coal mines: Such a group took on Massey Energy over alleged health problems the company supposedly caused. Massey was the owner of the Upper Big Branch Mine. I've posted often here about Massey and its not-so-lovable CEO (See 4/12/2010 and 7/1/2011 and many points in between). Massey's poor crisis communications record is largely responsible for the CEO's forced retirement late last year and the sale of the company this year.

In the latest case, Massey Energy and a subsidiary settled a seven-year-old lawsuit with 700 southern West Virginia residents who claimed coal slurry disposal practices poisoned their drinking water. Settlement terms, unfortunately, are confidential.

The suit against Massey and Rawl Sales & Processing related to water supplies residents say were ruined by 1.4 billion gallons of slurry pumped into worked-out underground mines. "All parties remain under a gag order and didn’t immediately comment." (http://www.loganbanner.com/view/full_story/14857394/article-Massey-settles-WV-coal-slurry-case?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column) It remains unclear if it was the judge or the water that gagged those people.

The plaintiffs reportedly were in crisis, but supposedly won't be when their checks arrive in the mail.

Environmentalists and community members perhaps are gearing up for the next coal-mining battlefield -- mountaintop removal. This report was posted yesterday: "Communities near surface mining sites suffer much higher rates of cancer than other parts of West Virginia, according to a new study published this week in the Journal of Community Health. The researchers conclude that there are likely thousands of additional cases of cancer in communities near mountaintop removal sites." (http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/07/study-find-cancer-rates-higher-communities-near-mtr-sites)

I'm not taking sides here for or against politicians, government regulators, coal miners and their employers, or litigious community members. Instead, I'm looking at coal mining as one of many industries that will always be in some crisis at any given time. Likewise, its stakeholders will find themselves in intermittent crises. All must be prepared for the next reporter who wants to do a detailed report of the issues coal faces. That will be a chance for each to tell its story -- depending on the news agency and reporter asking the questions.

Long-term crises require long-term planning and communications. That's true if you are associated with coal or any other business that can, at times, be controversial.

Isn't that right, plastics manufacturers?

Confusion Flows Through Montana as Yellowstone River Fades to Black

It's no BP Horizon oil spill in terms of size and economic impact, but to outdoors lovers and the Blackfeet Indian tribe, the Exxon Mobil oil pipe leak into the Yellowstone River is no less significant. Just as was the case during the gulf oil leak, if you don't like the news the oil company is delivering, be patient -- the story is bound to change soon.

How much oil spilled, what is the environmental impact, when did the leak begin, when did it end, when did responsible companies know they had a leak...? Answers in Montana, as in the gulf last year, keep changing. Why? Because spokespersons form Exxon and pipeline manager FX Energy chose to speculate instead of waiting until the facts were in. Doing so led to a lack of credibility and loss of trust.

Most of the media have gone home. After slogging through initial updates, followed by corrections and ultimately by shoulder shrugging and I-don't-knows, reporters have moved on to other stories.

At last, a regional paper, the Great Falls Tribune, offered an update earlier today. But it's the same story. "Officials are unsure how much oil spilled into the creek, which connects with the Marias River and ultimately the Missouri River. It is unclear whether the spill has had any effect on wildlife. Workers have found two dead birds, but they did not know whether that was related.
"The Environmental Protection Agency, the lead investigator into the spill, said Tuesday there was no new information into the circumstances surrounding the incident. The agency has said it is investigating why Salt Lake City-based FX Energy did not report the spill when it happened." (http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/110727012/Cut-Bank-oil-spill-cleanup-go-weeks)

Censored News, a website with a head-scratching name that covers "indigenous people and human rights," reported after the leak, "Blackfeet officials confirmed that oil was spotted in the river at least two weeks ago by a kayaker who reported the incident to 911. According to a preliminary investigation by the Blackfoot Environmental Department, FX Drilling attempted to fix the pipeline after the 911 call, but left the break unmended for over a week, claiming they were unable to access the site. Also according to the investigation, FX failed to initiate cleanup on the site after fixing the pipeline. On Wednesday, nearly three weeks after the initial discovery of the spill, absorbent booms were finally placed by Indian Country Environmental Associates (ICEA) on the shore of the Cutbank where the oil merges with the river." (http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/oil-spill-into-cutback-river-blackfeet.html)

When the leak was reported, when it was stopped, and when cleanup began and by whom are all subject to rumor and interpretation. "FX Drilling Corporation has claimed that the leak released two barrels of oil, or 84 gallons. However, officials with the Blackfeet Environmental Department have estimated the spill to be 'several thousand gallons.'"

Censored writes of FX, "Their failure to disclose the event to the press, community, or Tribal authorities has caused suspicion that their conduct was not merely negligent, but indicative of a coverup. According to Mary Clare Weatherwax, an official at the Blackfeet Environmental Department, 'There was definitely a lack of communication that would have allowed a proper response.'"

More traditional media, namely ABC News, add credibility to Censored's claims. "Company representatives initially said the spill lasted 'at most' 30 minutes, and then later said workers began shutting down the line within six minutes of the break. On Tuesday, (Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. president Gary) Pruessing said in response to a question from (Montana Governor Brian) Schweitzer that it took 30 minutes to seal off all the valves needed to stop the flow of crude into the river...."

According to other reports, "Exxon Mobil took almost an hour to fully seal the pipeline after the accident — nearly twice as long as it had publicly disclosed. The company said that did not change its estimate of how much crude entered the river." (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=13997242)

An Exxon Mobil spokesman said the the time difference was based on information the company provided to the agency He said that "the discrepancy might have come about because Pruessing spoke without any notes when he talked with Schweitzer."

Shades of BP's Tony Hayward, another oil exec who made misspeaking in a crisis an art.

Another discrepancy is how far-reaching the impact of the oil reached. "It (the time to seal the leak) was not the first time the company offered clarification over its handling of the spill. A day earlier, the company acknowledged under political pressure that the leak's impact could extend far beyond a 10-mile stretch of the river it initially said was the most affected area.

"The company earlier downplayed government officials' assertions that damage was spread over dozens of miles. Transportation officials said Wednesday that oil was observed as far downstream as 240 miles.... The agency said that information was provided by Exxon Mobil, but company spokesman Alan Jeffers said he was not aware of any such sighting."

ABC reported that questions remain about how deep that ruptured pipeline was buried under the river. Federal regulations require pipes to be at least four feet deep, but no one can say for sure how deeply this line in question -- or any other line -- was buried.

"(Exxon Mobil) in December surveyed the pipe's depth and said it was at least 5 to 8 feet beneath the riverbed. The line was temporarily shut down in May after Laurel officials again raised concerns that it could be at risk as the Yellowstone started to rise. The company restarted the line after a day, following a review of its safety record.

"The company said in a June 1 email — just a month before the spill — that the line was buried at least 12 feet beneath the riverbed, according to documents from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines." Pruessing said the company didn't know where the 12-foot figure came from but "was looking into the matter."

The leak has raised concerns about the impact of flooding on the network of pipelines buried under riverbeds. "'It's too early to tell whether this is an isolated incident or there might be other types of increased damage or erosion based on a year of flooding,' said Brigham McCown, a former federal pipeline safety official who now advises pipeline companies at a Dallas firm."

And the cause of the leak? Let's just guess if we don't know, shall we? "The prevailing theory among officials and the company is that the raging Yellowstone eroded the riverbed and exposed the line to damaging rocks or debris."

It's speculation, not fact. What happens to those who speculate?

"'The best thing (Exxon Mobil) could do at this point is be completely honest,' said ... Gov. Schweitzer. 'It is clear that their veracity has not been 100 percent to this point.'"

We learned this lesson as children: when Mom or Dad questioned us, the more our story changed under interrogation, the less credible we became. But somehow, business people in a crisis forget, whether lying or not, that "facts" aren't believable if they're different from the "facts" you handed out this morning. Never speculate.

Some of the confusion stems from the spokesperson and company president and maybe someone downriver all trying to make statements to government and media without coordinating messages and verifying facts. In a crisis, you usually want one spokesperson. At the minimum, you always want one message without contradictions and corrections.

Another lesson from this story is to watch for the latest fads in public opinion and regulation. Usually the two go together. Specifically, if your employer or client is responsible for underground pipelines that carry hazardous materials, spend some money to ensure that the pipes comply with regulations and your company has done all things possible to prevent leaks.

Even if you've never had a spill -- yet: Resting on your laurels can lead to sitting on the hot seat.

Chicken Coop Is Full in Washington and NFL Suites

Do you remember or do you know about the game of chicken? I'm not sure if that's a term younger people will know. I only saw it in movies: testosterone-drunk youths driving their cars at each other head on. The first to veer was the loser. The smarter people stood aside and watched. The really smart ones were someplace else entirely.

I watched in horror the past several months as two frightening games of chicken exploded slowly (I know, that's an oxymoron, but it works here) in front of the nation and the world. The really smart ones among us made sure to be someplace else entirely. One game is between the Democrats and Republicans, the liberals and conservatives, the Senate and the House. Take your pick. It involves high stakes, as did those auto chicken contests. This game has to do with raising the debt ceiling and either reducing spending, raising taxes, both, or neither.

The second game of chicken this summer just ended. The National Football League players and owners, after a four-month lockout, reached an agreement just before -- drumroll, please -- the preseason and regular season were in jeopardy of delay or cancellation.

The first-mentioned chicken crisis threatens families, individuals, investors, businesses, and all those elected officials who want to be re-elected. The second became a crisis for vendors in the towns where NFL training camps should have started by now, the city of Canton where the Hall of Fame Game was canceled, TV networks, and the fans (like me) who saw their autumns flash before their eyes, dreading that the only thing to watch on TV soon would be NCAA football, the World Series and playoffs, and Red Box rentals.

I wouldn't sound bipartisan if I tried to blame the debt tussle on one side or the other. We all know it takes two to tango and two to tangle. And tangle they do. They remind me of the couple arguing about which is the better driver as their car speeds over a cliff. The car has no say but gets totalled just the same.

We know some Democrats have gotten in the way of an agreement by refusing to compromise on social spending cuts. Likewise, some Republicans insist on driving the country off a cliff to try to force government to fit into a much smaller box. And then there are those who are blatantly trying to advance their political will:

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, (R-Ky.), October 2010. That's the most important goal of the Senate?? No wonder there's no compromise.

And what's a political soup without nuts. According to Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann:
“Shame on President Obama for casting the American people aside as collateral damage, as he continues his political gamesmanship with the national debt crisis. The problem with the president’s plan is that he’s operating from the wrong assumption — that we need to increase the debt limit to pay for increased spending. Despite what President Obama says, the people of this country understand what raising the debt limit means. It’s the President who doesn’t grasp the magnitude of our national debt; he compares it to ‘a little credit card debt’ when, in fact, our ‘national credit cards’ are maxed out." (http://www.michelebachmann.com/2011/07/bachmann-responds-to-president-obamas-speech-on-the-national-debt-crisis/) She says she'll never vote to increase the debt ceiling. Never mind that we're arguing about money that's already been spent -- by Congress.

We might consider Bachmann's views without such a large grain of salt if she hadn't continued insisting that our founding fathers fought like heck to outlaw slavery. This is the same Congresswoman who advised her constituents not to fill out Census forms. She claimed the Obama-led government might use the information “to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights” and maybe even put them “in internment camps.” (http://atlantapost.com/2011/07/08/shes-palin-2-o-michele-bachmanns-10-goofiest-gaffes-craziest-quotes/3/)

I would rather listen to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke talk about the economy and budget.

"Bernanke repeated his calls for a long-term budget plan, but made clear he did not want to see the rise in the debt limit held hostage to a deficit-cutting plan.

“'I hope ... that such a plan can be achieved in the near term without resorting to brinkmanship,' the Fed chief said. He also renewed a warning that he had made a week ago that cutting the budget too sharply in the near-term could endanger the economy’s recovery. 'An advantage of taking a longer-term perspective in forming concrete plans for fiscal consolidation is that policymakers can avoid a sudden fiscal contraction that might put the still-fragile recovery at risk,' Bernanke said." (http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/41160)

He makes sense, but who is listening? Who will be the first to steer away from the oncoming vehicle to avoid a national and international crash?

On the lighter side, the NFL ended its game of chicken this weekend. Who blinked? We, the fans, did mostly. Was there ever really any thought that there would be no football season because both sides would choose to leave billions on the table because they wanted multi-billions instead?
"Both sides took hits and neither will walk away unscathed now that they have finally agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement. That the NFL Players Association had to decertify, that the owners had to lock out the players, that there had to be a halt to league business was just silly when everyone was making money hand over fist."

Everybody was but the government and me, I guess.

"The league was healthy, not broken. This dispute was about greed, plain and simple. It was not about putting the best product on the field or playing for the love of the game. It was about money, and how much everyone got. "

I could change a few words in that paragraph from ESPN.com and you would think I was still talking about the debt ceiling debate.

"Of course, the answer is that the players and the owners will continue to print money. The television contracts will only get larger. The fan interest will only grow. The stadiums will continue to be packed (most of them), and the merchandise will continue to fly off the shelves....

"The owners and the players (both won). Call it a tie. Each got a little something they wanted, and most important, each will get a lot of money. The owners now will keep 52 percent of the revenues, not the 47 percent from the previous collective bargaining agreement that so rankled them, but they also will have to operate with a $120 million salary cap, with an additional approximately $20 million for benefits, and have a guaranteed spend. That guaranteed spend was important to the players, and they got it. In the end, the owners and players are splitting more than $9 billion. No one is losing." (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6791346/winners-losers-nfl-labor-deal)

To see who really is losing, check out the website cited.

Labor disruptions can lead to crises -- whether it's us having the labor trouble, a supplier, a customer, transporters, or sports teams whose revenue is depended upon by many workers, retailers, and government entities. All crisis communications plans must reflect the possibility of work stoppages, even if you are a non-union shop.

We see over and over how government can manufacture crises for us where none should have existed. Whether it's new regulations, higher taxes, environmental crackdowns, or using our economic security to play chicken just to capture the White House for one political party or another, smoldering crisis analysis should consider the financial impact of Washington or state or local mud slinging.

Did I just see you blink first?

Amy Winehouse: "I'm not gonna spend 10 weeks, Have everyone think I'm on the mend"

Reuters/Michael Dalder/Files)
I saw the story while surfing news sites today. I had to look in two places to verify that Amy Winehouse really died.

"Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home, police said. She was 27." (http://news.yahoo.com/police-singer-amy-winehouse-dies-age-27-170841681.html)

That her death is no huge surprise doesn't make her loss any easier. I wrote on June 19 about Ms. Winehouse and her under-the-influence performance in Serbia: "Amy should never have said "No, no, no" to rehab. Her personal crisis is costing her lots of money and lots of fans. She remains in denial, much the way Charlie Sheen's addiction got him into trouble and got him fired from his long-running sit-com while he merely spews catch phrases. These are two of many examples of stars and athletes who let their addictions and egos sink them, at least until they got the help they needed -- if they ever did."

Amy never did.

Substance abuse can be a problem in any workplace. Be sure your organization's HR policy is clear about how you will treat suspected addicts. And be sure your crisis communications plan prepares you in the event of a major drug bust or revelations that a senior manager has such a problem.

Or in case of a death.

Kentucky Medicaid Group Caught With Hand in Taxpayers' Cookie Jar

I wrote on June 28 about the latest crisis at Passport Health Services. This time, the crisis is being shared by the organizations that created Passport in the first place.

Passport provides Medicaid services for more than 170,000 Kentucky residents. A 2010 state audit requested by a state senator revealed an assortment of wrongs, which got the state's attention all the way up to the governor. One of the sins was to distribute millions of dollars in surplus funds to the medical organizations that created Passport and who monopolized its board. The first distribution, in 2008, was $10.5 million to repay members for the initial money they had put up to start Passport in the late 1990s. Two more $10 million distributions were made in 2008 and 2009. These payments were supposed to be for the care of indigent patients.

Think logically. Tax dollars for Medicaid patients received through the state's largest contract are more than what's required to make Medicaid payments. So the nonprofit company set up to distribute Medicaid used leftover money -- taxpayer dollars, mind you -- to pay participating agencies.

The intent was noble, I like to think. But the latest contract between Passport and the state shows an increase in dollars, even though the previous agreements left well over $30 million in surplus. Couldn't Passport, its attorneys, and its partners have smelled spoiled meat?

"Attorney General Jack Conway told The Courier-Journal Wednesday that he reached settlements with major Jefferson County healthcare groups that ran Passport on refunding $26.4 million which they took from Passport's profits in 2008 and 2009. Conway said that under the agreements the organization required to repay the most money, about $14.4 million, would be University Physicians Associates, or UPA — the group of doctors of the U of L (University of Louisville) School of Medicine.

"However, U of L and UPA both confirmed Thursday that $5.4 million of what UPA will repay will come from the university ... because it was the university – not UPA – which actually got that money from Passport." (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011307210084)

U of L spokesman Mark Hebert said university officials believed it seemed appropriate that Passport's investors be repaid what they spent to start the organization.

M-m-m-m-maybe. But the two payments to partners that followed was clearly state money appropriated for Medicaid that was used for other purposes. That's how State Attorney General Jack Conway saw it. "Conway said his investigation of the distributions led him to conclude that Passport's board members at the time were not 'looking out for Passport, rather they were looking out for the respective members' interests.'”

Always ask yourself what your key stakeholders will say if they scrutinize your organization's decision making. In the case of Passport, it took a state audit to force change: a complete replacement of Passport executives plus many other reforms, including a revamping of the board to add citizen members and healthcare providers outside Jefferson County.

The latest smack on the wrist is that the partner organizations have to give back the crumbs they tried to scarf up out of the public cookie jar. They should have known better.

Murdoch Touches All the Bases, But Is He Running Around the Field In the Wrong Direction?

"Get yer lineups here! Get yer scorecard lineups!"

In case you're keeping score at home, here's a recap of the high-stakes blame game under way as Rupert Murdoch goes down in the count oh-and-two. I was all set to research the crises at News Corp. and (the late) News of the World, but now I don't have to. Larry Smith, official scorer and crisis communications guru, has created a game summary on his blog at http://crisisconsultants.blogspot.com/.

"Ten people have been arrested and two key executives have resigned, including the Publisher of the Wall Street Journal.... Here in the States, the tab for settlements and lawsuits began to mount. Minnesota state government accused News America of unfair trade practices and the company ended up paying 'costs' and promising to stop falsely bad-mouthing competitors. Next, in 2009, Floorgraphics took News America to court, accusing them of 'hacking' into their computers and stealing proprietary information. The trial began, but it didn’t take News America long to see where the case was going and settled for $29.5 million and a few days later purchased the whole company.

"The next year Valassis Communications filed suit and settled for $500 million. That’s just the settlements we know about. If General Motors or Bank of America paid a half-billion dollar settlement in a lawsuit, don’t you think the U.S. media would have reported that?"

That's a reasonable assumption, so the question becomes, "Why not?" I watched coverage on-and-off of Rupert and son James testifying at the parliamentary committee hearing Tuesday. Both denied prior knowledge of phone tappings, police bribes, and I think they claimed to have never intentionally slid and spiked any second basemen. Their attempt to emulate wide-eyed cherubs reminded me of Nixon and the Watergate hearings. All that was missing was either of them confirming, "I am not a crook." (Rupert was close with his "I am not responsible.")

For the answer to the question above, "Don’t you think the U.S. media would have reported that?" watch or re-watch Citizen Kane, the story of the rise and fall of William Randolph Hearst and his news monopoly. I believe it contains some answers.

The New York Times Thursday had this to say: "Two former News International executives publicly contradicted James Murdoch’s testimony to a parliamentary committee, saying Thursday that they told him of evidence in 2008 that suggested that phone hacking at one of the company’s tabloid newspapers was more widespread. The former executives said they informed Mr. Murdoch at the time that he was authorizing an unusually large secret settlement of a lawsuit brought by a hacking victim.

"Mr. Murdoch, who runs the News Corporation’s European and Asian operations, including News International, the British subsidiary, told the committee on Tuesday that he agreed to pay £725,000, which was then about $1.4 million, in the case because it made financial sense. He testified that he was not aware at the time of the evidence, which most likely would have become public had the case proceeded and undermined the company’s assertion that hacking was limited to 'a lone rogue reporter.'” (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/world/europe/22murdoch.html)

James, of course, still contends, "What smoldering crisis?"

At least two long-time arguments are brought to the forefront with the News of the World revelations. First is the conflict between those who like to complain about and blame the news media for most of what is wrong in our society, and those who defend it as necessary in a democracy. Second is the battle between the traditionally liberal press that likes to play left field, and the Murdoch media empire that won't chase down a fly ball if it's hit anywhere but to the foul line in right.

For example, an editorial in the Minnesota Star Tribune advises, "Those on the left and the right should not condemn or defend merely based on their respective impressions of Fox News or the Wall Street Journal, just two of the many media properties Murdoch's empire owns in America. (http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/126026908.html)

The Chicago Sun-Times editorial writer chose to defend the honor of journalists out of reach of Murdoch's glove hand. "It appears Murdoch’s News Corp. spent years trying to contain these allegations, apologizing for them only now that public outrage demands it. As a newspaper that wrestles with ethical issues every day — just how far do you go in pursuit of a story? — we’re reluctant to get up on our high horse. We also know Murdoch has helped keep journalism, even on occasion good journalism, alive. But he has poured most of his energy into running news operations that make a mockery of quality journalism, outfits that undercut the notion of journalism as a public good.

“'This is the most humble day of my life,' Murdoch said on Tuesday.

"Oh, please. Humility is nice. Accepting responsibility — and changing his ways — would be better." (http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/6600444-474/editorial-rupert-murdoch-needs-to-take-responsibility.html)

The Murdoch media won't go down swinging easily. "As the Murdoch Empire corruption scandal continues to unfold, the Wall Street Journal, one of its biggest entities, received plenty of mockery for a defensive editorial published today defending its leader and accusing rival organizations of excessive schadenfreude." (http://www.mediaite.com/print/murdochs-the-australian-editorial-paints-scandal-as-cliquish-crusade-against-press-freedoms/)

The Australian is even more defensive. A July 16 editorial "depicts the Murdoch scandal as a 'crusade' against free speech, beginning with a litany of complaints and celebrations from enemies of News of the World, only to declare that the 'excitable hacks' comparing the scandal to the fall of the Berlin Wall and other major events 'do a grave injustice to the freedom-hungry masses of yesteryear by lumping their struggles in with the media-led agitation against Murdoch. For no amount of shameless plundering of past democratic moments can disguise the fact that what we are witnessing in Britain is a media coup led by a tiny gaggle of illiberal liberals.'”

And who does the paper complain comprise this gaggle? "'The two politicians at the forefront of the crusade are John Prescott, former Labour deputy prime minister, and Chris Bryant, Labour MP. It can’t be a coincidence that both have been badly burned by Murdoch tabloids, finding their extramarital affairs (Prescott) or their penchant for posing in their Y-fronts on gay-sex websites (Bryant) splashed across their pages. Likewise, one doesn’t need a degree in political science to see why Hugh Grant has transmogrified overnight from floppy-haired actor into a one-man army against tabloid hacks: he’s never forgiven them for the fun they had at his expense after he indulged in certain roadside larks with a hooker in Los Angeles in 1995.'"

Yeah, that must be it.

But look who else is speaking up for News Corp.: Edelman Public Relations has accepted Murdoch and company, clearly behind in the bottom of the ninth, as a client. Tell me: Good move or bad for Edelman? Please tell me what you think. Jay Rosen is asking the same question on his blog. (http://storify.com/jayrosen_nyu/edelman-draft)

"The questions that interest me are: How does Edelman decide if the risks to its reputation are manageable? Here it is, representing a company with demonstrable difficulties in coming to terms with unconscionable things it has done and speaking truthfully in public about its behavior. I can understand Edelman thinking, 'We can help you manage this crisis. We can help you tell your side of the story.' They're pros. They're good at this. I get all that.

"But how could Edelman have any confidence that News Corp would level with Edelman? As far as I could tell, there was nothing in the history of the phone hacking scandal up to now to suggest that the Murdoch forces were capable of that."

Ann Marie van den Hurk, Principal, Mind The Gap Public Relations, Tweeted in response, "He should have had a crisis plan in place... He's swimming up stream without a paddle now."

And trying to homer without a baseball bat.

Younger Workers Will Have to Pay for Aging Baby Boomers

I am a Baby Boomer. I was born right in the middle of the post-World War II population explosion between 1946 and 1964. Last weekend, I ordered from the Perkins 55-and-older menu -- and didn't even get carded. At the same time, I suppose I celebrate the knowledge that comes from many years of accumulated experience.

A recent poll suggests I'm pretty typical of my fellow Baby Boomers. (http://style.lifegoesstrong.com/aging-poll). The good news, the poll suggests, is that my generation is more into health, fitness, and longevity when it means maintaining quality of life. This good news for baby boomers looks like a smoldering crisis for the generations that follow.

"Some 33 percent of midlifers say they feel 'confident' about getting older. In fact, 46 percent of those who feel that their health has been improving in the last five years were confident about aging.... Six out of ten midlifers feel they will live at least a little longer then their parents with half or 49 percent expecting a better life than their parents had at an older age.

"To that end, 73 percent of midlifers say they're making at least a moderate effort to stave off the negative effects of aging. This is not only cosmetic, but 65 percent of those people said they're focused on warding off the negative effect that aging can have on health."

Good for me; bad for my kids:

• In 2000, 4.8 working-age persons per elderly person
• By 2030, 2.9 working-age persons per elderly person...
• Medicaid is the second largest and fastest growing item in state spending; more than 2/3 of Medicaid dollars directed to the elderly and disabled (2003)
• Total number of disabled elderly projected to increase by 1/3 to twice the current level by 2040, as high as 12.1 million
• The majority of care received in the community is by unpaid caregivers, usually family members and friends
• Elderly without family support projected to reach 1.2 million in 2020, almost twice as high as in 1990 (http://aspe.hhs.gov/medicaid/mar/KathrynAllen.pdf)

Ron Crouch, retired director of the Kentucky State Data Center, uses a visual approach to illustrate the perils of ignoring the economic dilemma posed by aging Boomers. He stacks blocks in the shape of a pyramid. That's the way our demographics operated in the past: large numbers early in their careers supporting a small number of seniors retired or unable to work. The Baby Boomers are changing the status quo. Lower birth rates with longer expected lifespans and the sheer number of Boomers will strain the elderly care systems. Crouch's stack of blocks now looks more like an inverted pyramid, with a few blocks on the bottom and many on the top. Such a structure will collapse. Keep in mind, too, that prior generations in the U.S. largely had incomes and built up pensions based on high-paying manufacturing jobs. Today's workers find such lucrative jobs in short supply. So who is going to pay for all this care? How can inadequate Social Security and Medicaid funds today meet the needs in 10 years and beyond?

Politicians don't want to address this smoldering crisis because it involves making sacrifices today to shore up that inverted pyramid of blocks many years from now. That's not a very good way to get re-elected.

In the meantime,we need to demand more from our elected leaders. This isn't about Republicans and Democrats. This isn't about which party controls the White House after 2012. This is about what's right for the future of the country and the security of Baby Boomers.

Someday, if you see a gray old man jogging down the street begging for spare change to buy fruit and vegetables, be generous. That might be me, the aging Baby Boomer.

Kentucky Speedway Trying To Get By With the Minimum Appeasing Angry Fans

It's time for an update to my July 11 post about the Kentucky Speedway's first-time NASCAR Speed Cup event and the traffic jam that left motorists suspended in a permanent pit stop.

First of all this week, the track told those holding tickets who couldn't get to the race because of the traffic and lack of parking that they may use those tickets at next year's Kentucky NASCAR event (Can't wait!) or at another race at another track owned by Speedway Motorsports. Those events range from July 17 in New Hampshire through November 8 in Texas. (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011307110071)

So far, no word on compensating those who arrived at the track after the race was underway, or those on Interstate 71 who had the misfortune to be passing through and got caught in the hours-long tie-up, or the trucking companies who were late delivering or picking up goods, or the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed while driving 15 miles in five hours.

"So SMI officials, whose woefully inadequate or pitifully executed traffic plan caused many ticket holders to miss all or most of the race, want fans to attend more of its races after providing many of them with a miserable experience. That’s a sorry remedy....

"SMI needs to provide refunds to anyone who says they missed the race, no questions asked. SMI needs to give free tickets to its Truck or Nationwide series races at Kentucky to those who arrived late. And it needs to do something for everyone else – a discount on future tickets, gas cards, etc. – with no questions asked....

"The next traffic jam could be by lawyers trying to get to Kentucky courthouses to file lawsuits on behalf of those who missed the race after being stuck in traffic for hours." (http://www.scenedaily.com/blogs/bobpockrass/Bob-Pockrass-SMIs-ticket-exchange-a-weak-response-to-traffic-disaster-at-Kentucky-Speedway.html)

I expect watching the legal actions fly will be better sport than watching the race cars. (Critics on and off the track complained the race wasn't as exciting as most, largely due to the quality of the track surface.)

Bruton Smith, track owner, is no stranger to legal suits. Scenedaily.com wrote, "Smith has sued cities, counties, even the federal government with varying degrees of success. He’s strong-armed governments to get tax credits to offset the cost of facilities that help him grow his personal empire. He’s a 'take my ball and go home' kind of guy when he doesn’t get his way."

That's what happened at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. "Smith is claiming breach of contract saying the city (Concord) and county owe millions for road improvements around the (Charlotte) Motor Speedway and the zMax Dragway. Smith says that was part of the plan offered to him to keep LMS in Concord and to build the zMax Dragway....

"'It's going to be very difficult for both sides because that informal agreement was never formalized,' said Catawba College Political Science professor Michael Bitzer. 'It was never put down on paper, it's going to be Bruton said, Concord/Cabarrus said.... Fighting the suit will likely cost taxpayers thousands if not millions of dollars, and the outcome could cost millions more.'" (http://www.wbtv.com/story/11190331/concord-vows-to-fight-bruton-smith-lawsuit?redirected=true)

According to BluegrassBulletin.com, the traffic jam might not have been an accident. "Before the green flag had even dropped, I received a text from one of my correspondents watching the race on television at home, that Bruton Smith was being interviewed about the traffic mess and immediately began pointing fingers at the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I'm told he blamed the road system and said that while he had the kind of money necessary to fix up his track, that it takes states, counties and cities to come up with the kind of money needed to build roads.... The question is what did Bruton do or not do that caused the problems. Might he have set up a mess to get leverage over the state to build him new access roads? (http://www.bluegrassbulletin.com/2011/07/could-the-speedway-traffic-jam-been-intended.html

I don't buy into that speculation, but find it worth repeating because Smith & company with all their experience should have known better than to put on a race so poorly. According to the Associated Press, "Smith absorbed some of the blame but stopped well short of saying there was more the track could have done to avoid the problem. He blamed everyone from the company running parking ('they did a lousy job') to I-71 ('a lousy piece of interstate') to the fans who were warned about the trouble ahead but still left late....

"The state spent millions of dollars over the past decade to improve the infrastructure around the speedway in hopes of one day getting a Cup date. Yet widening the interstate to three lanes in each direction ... did little to expedite traffic.... 'Ten lanes wide, everybody would have been in there,' Smith said....

"Maybe a good scare will solve that (traffic problem). This is the time of year when next year’s race schedule is set.... Asked if he threatened (Governor Steve) Beshear with moving the race to another one of his tracks, Bruton Smith cracked, 'Las Vegas, baby.'" (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110715/SPORTS16/307150105/1002/NASCAR-officials-vow-fix-traffic-woes-Kentucky-Speedway?odyssey=modnewswelltextHomes)

The BlueGrassBulletin.com blog doesn't see the problem through Smith's eyes. "Not only was traffic planning shoddy or nonexistent, Smith’s management team failed to ensure enough parking spots, didn’t hire enough shuttle buses and vans, buy enough bottled water and concessions, or even supply enough toilet paper. Helpless fans on Facebook are talking about turning the tables on Smith by filing a class-action lawsuit after spending large sums of money on tickets they could not use."

Back in Concord, North Carolina, this week, Smith got pretty much what he wanted in settling his suit out of court. Concord agreed to pay $2.8 million over three years to cover engineering documents and public rights-of-way around the speedway -- a settlement upon which elected officials painted smiley faces.

"'I think this is a fair settlement because we are getting something,' (Mayor Scott) Padgett said Thursday (July 14). 'We’re getting two tangible things that we need. Number one is the plans for the improvements at Exit 49 (off Interstate 85). Number two is all the right of ways and easements.'

"Speedway officials rejected more than one offer from Concord before agreeing to the $2.8 million lawsuit settlement earlier this week. When asked specifically why this agreement was accepted over past offers, Speedway attorney Jared Gardner with James, McElroy & Diehl declined to answer, saying the organization and its leaders have 'no comment at this time.'

"Concord City Council member Jim Ramseur said the deal represents the first agreeable terms the city and SMI have reached in the four-year ordeal. 'Previous city attempts to contractually settle the matter were rejected by Mr. Smith; therefore no funds were ever paid out,' Ramseur said in an e-mail.... 'This agreement puts an end to a four-year dispute, gives valuable assets to the city in return for settlement payments, and stops the city’s ongoing legal costs necessitated by Mr. Smith’s lawsuit.'” (http://www2.independenttribune.com/news/2011/jun/29/8/city-settles-lawsuit-speedway-ar-1165022/)

The learning from this crisis so far (More lessons are sure to emerge.) is that there's no excuse for Speedway Motorsports to squirm out of its obligation to ticketed race fans and casual travelers on the interstate on that fateful July 9 Saturday. Scenedaily.com's blog quoted above has the right idea: Fans should be offered refunds if they didn't make it into the overcrowded parking lots or if they missed the start of the race, no questions asked. MSI should offer gas cards to stranded motorists as well.

Treating fans and others fairly will cost money now, but will make money in the long run, based on comments of angry people, scrutiny by the Kentucky legislature and governor's office, and lawsuits that are sure to follow. Doing the right thing is always -- well, always the right thing.

Five Stages of a Crisis Can Be Traced Through Murdoch's News Corp. Saga

I wrote a week ago about the News Corp. scandal involving News of the World, phone spying, and a botched deal to buy the remaining portion of satellite broadcaster BskyB. The story is filled with international intrigue, arrests, yellow journalism, silenced presses, and the always-controversial and ultra-conservative Rupert Murdoch who owns this crisis.

According to Canadian Business, the mess keeps getting messier. "In a stunning turnaround, the company abandoned its bid (for BskyB) on July 13 due to intense pressure from British politicians — the same people who until recently lived in fear of Murdoch’s newspapers. And there is talk News Corp. may be forced out of the British market altogether." (http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/business_ethics/33682--news-corp-s-self-inflicted-pr-nightmare)

The Canadian Business article analyzes Murdoch & company's handling of the latest crisis to hit News Corp. "Noticeably absent from the exhaustive coverage of the phone-hacking scandal and its widening fall-out is a strong statement from Murdoch himself. This has helped to create an information vacuum which only encourages rumour and speculation, a potentially lethal mix for organizations in distress, explains Larry L. Smith, President of the Institute for Crisis Management in Louisville, Ky....

"News Corp. is not the first organization to face a public relations nightmare, but it seems unwilling or unable to learn from the lessons of previous crises.... The trick, according to Smith, is to get out ahead of the story and not get caught up in the 'five stages of crisis.' He points to BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill as an example.

"It begins with denial, regarding either the existence of a problem or its severity. BP’s response to the initial explosion progressed from denying the existence of a spill to admitting to a small amount of leaking oil, to finally acknowledging the estimates by outside experts of an underwater geyser.

"The second stage is containment. You put somebody in charge and present the idea that they’ll fix the problem quickly. (BP’s Tony Hayward initially seemed a good choice as troubleshooter due to his extensive experience in rig operations and safety.)

"The third and fourth stages involve taking credit for appointing your troubleshooter should things go right, or pinning the blame on him (or her) if the situation continues to deteriorate. BP took the latter route after Hayward became a liability due to remarks that downplayed the scale of the spill and its affect on his private life. He was put out to pasture once the crisis wound down.

"The fifth stage is getting around to fixing the actual problem. 'In a perfectly executed crisis management plan, you skip directly to this stage,' says Smith."

Bob Reid, chief media strategist with Veritas Communications in Toronto, also is quoted in the story on the dangers of rumors and the damage to advertising revenue. He is wondering if there might be some spillover to other Murdoch ventures, such as The Wall Street Journal and Fox News.

The article is worth checking out.

Kentucky Speedway Crisis Angers Thousands, Draws Threats From Fans and NASCAR

This is a story about being poorly prepared, angering wanna-be customers, failing to financially correct a wrong, inconveniencing thousands stuck on an interstate, looking to shift blame, and then refusing to publicly say "I'm sorry."

For about 10 years, auto racing enthusiasts in Kentucky operated under the premise that if we build it, they will come. And come they did! After a decade of planning and preparation, the Kentucky Speedway -- not far south of Cincinnati, north of Lexington, and northeast of Louisville -- hosted its first Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday.

As the cars sped around inside the complex, cars outside went practically nowhere. Tempers and passenger cars boiled over at about the same rate. NASCAR fans stuck in traffic dubbed this dilemma "Carmageddon."

See if you think this is a crisis. If yes, consider how it could have been prevented in the smoldering stage and, failing that, how can the long-term damage of this crisis-turned-sudden be minimized?

First, you need to understand the scope of the problem. "Some viewers told WAVE 3 they sat in traffic for as long as six hours Saturday night, waiting to get to the track.... As a birthday gift, her brother Stephen bought Mary Ann, who's disabled, and their family $400 in tickets to see Saturday night's race....

"Mary Ann and her family say they sat in traffic for hours. Once they finally reached a gate, Stephen claims they were turned away for parking. 'They were not giving us handicapped access because, their excuse was they were filled to capacity and they were doing emergency routes only,' he said.

"Mary Ann didn't get to see the race. 'It was my biggest dream of all time. It was shattered. It was just totally shattered. My heart was crushed,' she said. 'I'm just really highly hurt and disappointed.'" (http://www.wave3.com/story/15055975/sprint-cup-race-fans-react-to-traffic-nightmare

"The traffic jam getting to Kentucky Speedway left many less than lighthearted as they sat in traffic for several hours. The nearly never-ending stream of cars finally began to clear up close to 9 p.m., well after the race began, but that didn't mean the problem was solved. Some drivers tweeted that they were turned away at the gate because no more parking was available....

"It got to the point that some fans pulled off the road miles before the track, parked their vehicles and walked. Property owners along Ky. 35 offered their land for parking, charging $20. Some people then had to walk nearly 2 miles to the track....

"From his owner's suite, Bruton Smith told the Kentucky Enquirer that as many as 20,000 fans didn't get in because 'traffic is horrendous.' (http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/10/1806226/long-waits-in-traffic-frustrate.html)

How horrendous was it? "(Kentucky) Sen. David Williams, the Republican gubernatorial hopeful, never did make it to the track, the Kentucky Enquirer reported, even though he left Frankfort at 2 p.m. The trip normally takes 45 minutes."

Scott Jennings, a spokesman for Williams' campaign, said, "The next governor and the next legislature are going to have to look at it to figure out what we'll do to prevent this sort of situation from happening two years in a row." Governor Steve Beshear, running for re-election against Williams, stated, "We will work with track officials to determine what can be done to address these problems, so that next year's NASCAR event will be even bigger and better." (http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/11/1807219/governor-pledges-to-work-with.html)

We can look for this traffic snarl to become a political tie-up for the next four months during the campaign. The taxpayers already footed the bill to make part of Interstate 71 three lanes in each direction. The race Saturday wasn't even over before Smith, chairman of the track's ownership group, was saying "the state would need to step up in fixing the interstate."

No one is even talking about the poor folks innocently trapped in the jam-up who simply were headed for Cincinnati or Louisville or exits in between.

Stuck fans and crew were all a'Twitter. "Jen Morrison of Nashville didn't make it, either. She tweeted: 'NASCAR tix - $170, 5 hours of traffic - $50 gas. Turned away due to no parking when you get there.' The traffic delayed even Denny Hamlin, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. While stuck in a jam, Hamlin posted updates on Twitter. In one tweet, he offered $20 to the first 'follower' who located him. Five-time Sprint Cup point champion Jimmie Johnson took a helicopter to the track after hearing about traffic problems after Friday night's Nationwide race." (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110709/SPORTS16/307090114/Kentucky-Speedway-Fans-find-giant-traffic-snarl-71)

Now you have an idea of the size of this mess. Should the Kentucky Speedway have recognized traffic and parking as a smoldering crisis? Speedway officials reportedly worked with Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the state Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet to develop a traffic and parking plan. Other than back country roads, the only way to reach Kentucky Speedway is via Interstate 71. What made all those studying the issue think that two to three lanes of interstate, two exits, and a three-lane access road could handle that kind of traffic?

"A July 1 press release from The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet that touted the traffic patterns set for Saturday night even noted near the bottom that 'Kentucky Speedway is able to accommodate approximately 33,000 vehicles in its 10 parking lots.' Track owner Bruton Smith's addition of 40,000 seats had made it a 107,000-seat speedway, and all the seats sold a week before the race.

"Clearly there was going to be a shortage, and everyone seemed to know it ahead of time. Even Smith, who spent millions on improving infrastructure since buying the speedway in 2008, acknowledged it Friday when he joked track officials "expect to have everyone home by Tuesday.'" (http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/11/1808282/its-too-late-for-kentucky-speedway.html)

What was the immediate response from Kentucky Speedway, other than Smith throwing the problem to state government to fix? "'Kentucky Speedway apologizes (no longer "regrets;" see below) for the traffic conditions surrounding the Quaker State 400,' track general manager Mark Simendinger said in a statement. 'We're committed to working with NASCAR, state and local officials and traffic experts to assure that this never happens again. The details of these improvements will be announced over time as they are formulated.'"

That made no difference to people like Ryan Vaughn of Cincinnati. "'I've been to many, many races here, and this is the worst one I've been to for getting in the track,'" he said.

"Many said the origin of the problem was parking; they thought track officials lacked a solid plan to help move cars into the lots. Some drivers were even turned away from lots where they were supposed to park and forced to search for spots elsewhere. 'They weren't flagging people in and parking them right,' Vaughn said. 'There was no direction getting them in there. Everyone was just standing.'

“'This is by far the worst,” (Tina) Burker said. 'I've never ever in my life been at a race and traffic was this bad. They did a poor job. I don't think they were ready for it.'” (http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/10/1806226/long-waits-in-traffic-frustrate.html)

Simendinger would phrase it a bit differently. "'Are we learning stuff? Sure, we're learning stuff. We're going to be able to do it better,' (Simendinger) said. 'There were some things, behavior patterns and traffic patterns, that we're able to study now.'” (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110709/SPORTS16/307090114/Kentucky-Speedway-Fans-find-giant-traffic-snarl-7 )

Now? Why not six months or a year ago? Kentucky Speedway has some fences to mend. How good of a job is it doing? The I-71 traffic jam has become a train wreck following wishy-washy communications. Simendinger acknowledged Sunday night that some fans were not able to attend the race (most estimate the number at 15-20,000) and said, "We are gathering information on this and will announce a policy for these affected fans within seven days."

Hit the brakes a minute! Seven days? He's got to be kidding! People are mad, they are out 10s or hundreds of dollars, plus gas, plus inconvenience, and he's going to take seven days to make some decision? That should be an automatic. The only issue should be how logistically to handle refunds.

Remember the Super Bowl mixup in Dallas last February when 1,250 fans arrived at the game to find they had no seats? Within a day or so, those fans were offered free tickets to next year's Super Bowl, then hotel reimbursement, then air fare. Two days after the game, the ante was raised to a choice of a ticket to next year's Super Bowl and a cash payment of $2,400, or a ticket to any future Super Bowl, along with round-trip airfare and a free room. On the two-day anniversary of the ticket debacle, displaced fans filed a class action suit against the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys, and team owner Jerry Jones, alleging breach of contract, fraud, and deceptive sales practices.

This is why studying crises is so valuable. Kentucky Speedway should know better than to tease an angry public. Seven days to make a decision gives lawyers plenty of time to organize a class action.

Jenna Fryer, AP auto racing writer, understands. She posted a column an hour or so ago. (http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/11/1808282/its-too-late-for-kentucky-speedway.html) "It's too late to apologize now, although track general manager Mark Simendinger probably thought he had it covered in a Sunday night statement.... 'Kentucky Speedway regrets the traffic conditions,' Simendinger wrote, and since regret means remorse, maybe that should have been enough. It wasn't, though, and frustrated fans took to social media to blast the track and parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc. for ducking the two words everyone wanted to hear.

"'When I realized they hadn't said (I'm sorry), I wondered, 'Why haven't they apologized?' fan Jen Morrison said Monday. 'I bet a lot of people are wondering that. It seems like such a simple thing to say, and it could really go a long way. But they didn't say it, probably because they don't want to say it's their fault.'"

Morrison's quote is worth repeating and emphasizing for any crisis: "Why haven't they apologized? I bet a lot of people are wondering that. It seems like such a simple thing to say, and it could really go a long way."

"By Monday afternoon," Fryer's column continued, "the track had indeed quietly apologized by updating Simendinger's statement on its website. The word 'regrets' had been replaced by 'apologizes.'"

That's not going to be good enough. Kentucky Speedway risks losing fans from future events and from next year's Sprint Cup, which NASCAR may relocate if it doesn't have faith in the Kentucky pit crew to make some big-time changes.

A statement from NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Brian France said ominously, "NASCAR will be in close communications with Kentucky Speedway and Speedway Motorsports Inc. to see that they work to resolve the issues. This situation cannot happen again."

If You Think Players' Jerseys Are Dirty, Look at Their Coaches and Boosters

The weather is hot, my lawn is drying out, the lake is getting too warm for fishing, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have folded and begun trading their best players for cheaper ones. Oh wait. That last one isn't happening this season. (The Bucs are one game out of first as I write this.) Most signs, anyway, point toward the start of college football season. You remember NCAA sports -- where true amateur athletes test their skills and strengths against others, all for the glory of the sport. It's not like the NFL, where players and owners compete to see which is greedier. Ah, there's nothing like pure college sports!

And what we see today is nothing like pure college sports, Groucho would say. Alumni, boosters, fans, and students put so much pressure on the staff at some schools that coaches and players are tempted to win -- and profit -- at all costs. Those costs can be very high. The NCAA makes matters worse with a mountain of rules more complicated than the President's health care plan. Trying to unlevel the playing field is leading to crises at major universities, and not-so-major universities.

I wrote on June 26 about the storied football program at The Ohio State University. The Columbus school yesterday released the results of its investigation and proposed self-imposed penalties. "In a 63-page response to the NCAA, Ohio State did not suggest any of the most severe punishments for its football program, like a bowl ban or loss of scholarships. It did spell out five self-imposed penalties: vacating the 12 wins from 2010, including the Sugar Bowl victory; vacating the 2010 Big Ten title; suspending players for the start of the 2011 season, as was done in December, though one other player has joined the list; two years of probation; and that the school 'sought and accepted the resignation of then Head Football Coach (Jim) Tressel.'" (http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/07/ohio_states_self-imposed_penal.html)

The report admits OSU lied about Coach Jim Tressel resigning. Instead, the school decided it was to Ohio State's advantage to brag about "decisive action against a very successful coach in a popular sport in a very short period of time." Some blame the OSU compliance department instead of Tressel. That's just crazy talk. That's as silly as if Casey Anthony had blamed her baby's death on her father and brother for molesting Casey as a kid. No, wait, bad example. The point I'm making is that Tressel is a big boy who should have known better, and fans shouldn't be trying to pass the buckeye.

Ohio State is far from being the only one who has been sacked and penalized. "Southern California reacted strongly one day after being notified its appeal of penalties handed out to its football program was rejected by the NCAA (June 10).... The decision by the NCAA affirmed the Trojans would serve a two-year bowl ban and be forced to cut 30 scholarships during the next three years for violations involving former running back Reggie Bush. The school also was forced to vacate 14 victories that Bush played in and likely will have its 2004 national championship stripped by the BCS." (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/05/usc-reaction-vehemently-disagree-ncaa-appeal-denied/1)

"The NCAA says Bush received lavish gifts from two fledgling sports marketers hoping to sign him. The men paid for everything from hotel stays and a rent-free home where Bush’s family apparently lived to a limousine and a new suit when he accepted his Heisman Trophy in New York in December 2005."

Bush had to return the Heisman Trophy.

"The NCAA took no further action against the (USC) men’s basketball team, which had already banned itself from postseason play last spring and vacated its wins from (O.J.) Mayo’s season. (Former head coach Tim) Floyd, now coaching at UTEP, resigned from USC last June, shortly after he was accused of giving cash to a middleman who helped steer Mayo to USC." (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37621070/ns/sports-college_football/)

Meanwhile, in Morgantown: "West Virginia received NCAA sanctions Friday (July 8) for impermissible practice violations under former coaches Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart.... West Virginia received two years' probation, and lost two scholarships for 2010-11 and one for 2011-12. Other internal restrictions were imposed upon football staff members for five major and one secondary violation." (http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-07-08/west-virgina-ncaa-agree-on-sanctions)

To put it simply, WVU's crime was for "participation and monitoring of noncoaching staff members in drill and meeting activities reserved for countable coaches within the football program.

Huh?

Let's move farther south, where they speak English, to the University of North Carolina: "Players got paid, agents were everywhere, players committed academic fraud, coaches, players and tutors alike misled or stonewalled investigators — and there was direct institutional knowledge via (ex-defensive line coach John) Blake (forced to resign in September), who (according to the NCAA) not only knew but was actively participating in flouting the rules.... There is no escaping the conclusion that the Tar Heels are going to feel the maximum, USC-level pain in response — up to and including a postseason ban and heavy scholarship losses. Institutionally, North Carolina worked hard to distance itself from the worst offenders (to)ingratiate itself as a collaborator in justice when it became aware of the violations." (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Agents-rogue-coach-academic-fraud-North-Carol?urn=ncaaf-wp2870)

The Fiesta Bowl proved to all that post-season football bowls aren't immune to crises either. CEO John Junker tried to convince investigators that his bill for $1,241 charged to the bowl for a visit to a strip club had a business purpose. "'We are in the business where big strong athletes are known to attend these types of establishments,' Junker said, according to investigators. 'It was important for us to visit and we certainly conducted business.'"

Hilarious! But not so funny if you want to see college sports cleaned up. Other accusations against Junker, who has since left his post as CEO: "funneling money to politicians through bowl employees; coaching witnesses, and altering documents during the investigation that followed; taking junkets to college football games with politicians and their families -- all on the bowl's dime. On page 210 is a charge that the bowl footed the $33,188 bill for Junker's 50th birthday party, a four-day bacchanal in Pebble Beach that had, according to one attendee, 'absolutely no business purpose.'"

Turning now to basketball, the most prominent stumble was by Bruce Pearl, coach at the University of Tennessee, who was fired in March for a series of rule violations. "In a tearful news conference on Sept. 10, Pearl acknowledged that he had given investigators false information when asked about a cookout at his home attended by high school juniors. Pearl was charged with unethical conduct by the NCAA for misleading investigators and the NCAA has since charged the Tennessee basketball and football programs with a dozen violations.

"However, failing to notify Tennessee of another possible recruiting violation that occurred just four days after the tearful news conference may have ultimately caused Pearl to lose the support of his bosses.... It was likely the March incident that tipped the scales against Pearl. On March 6, a source told (ESPN.com's Andy) Katz, Pearl's staff committed a violation in the procedural manner of the player pass list for the home game against Kentucky.... Pearl's departure has already affected Tennessee's recruiting." (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6243862)

I could go on, so please stop me. I could write about SMU, Boise State (whose penalties may cover football, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s track and field and cross country when announced next month), and Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart universities who lost scholarships for failing to meet the minimum scores on the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate report. (http://www.norwichbulletin.com/sports/x2023190427/College-Sports-CCSU-Sacred-Heart-receive-NCAA-sanctions-UConn-passes#axzz1RiEJGGeH)

If you're still with me this deep into the fourth quarter, you can see that college sports, bowls, and anyone associated with big-time, high-stakes athletics is one poor decision away from a personal and institutional crisis. All sizes of academic institutions need to have a crisis plan so they'll be prepared for the next reporter wanting to know about athletes driving expensive cars, coaches in cahoots with pro recruiters, or free tattoos in exchange for autographs.

Big money and pressure to win are a smoldering crisis. If you plan for a fumble in your crisis communications plan, you'll be in better position to recover. If you need help or a set of outside eyes, visit http://www.crisisexperts.com/.

Something Smells Bad at Louisville's Sewer Utility

The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) is responsible for wastewater collection and treatment and stormwater runoff in Louisville, Kentucky. On its website (http://www.msdlouky.org/), it calls itself a "non-profit regional utility service," funded entirely by user fees and sewer line extensions. No government tax dollars support MSD, yet its eight-member board is appointed by the mayor and approved by the 26-member metro council, and the mayor hires the executive director and chief engineer.

After The Courier-Journal published articles questioning some MSD practices, the mayor asked for the resignations of the chairman, vice chairman, and former chairwoman because businesses they owned did business with MSD, to the tune of $600,000-plus in the past five years. That was only the beginning of MSD being laid out on a microscope slide.

Mayor Greg Fischer, in his first year of office, has requested a state audit of MSD. At first, Kentucky Auditor Crit Luallen planned to hire a private consulting firm to do the audit because her staff was overloaded. Yesterday, she reversed her position, stating that the MSD audit was too important and too visible to contract out.

Luallen said the audit will be led by the same audit director who previously handled high-profile reviews of Passport Health Services, Dismas Charities, and the Kentucky League of Cities. I've blogged about all three in the past year or so. Those audits resulted in firings and dramatic procedural changes.

MSD is managed by Bud Schardein, who should be well-versed in communications and crisis communications. He rose through MSD's management ranks from public relations to executive director. I've long admired his knowledge and openness. Then I had a friend who was having trouble getting MSD to respond to a flooding/drainage issue near his farm. He decided to speak to the board. That's when I learned how tightly closed MSD's door is.

Requests to address the board had to be submitted in writing to Schardein so-many days before the meeting. He alone decided what was and wasn't appropriate for the board to hear.

That policy changed recently after the audit was announced. The new "open" policy states, "MSD shall place a Sign-In Sheet at the Customer Service Desk located in the lobby.... Anyone wishing to speak to the Board before a Board meeting or a Board committee meeting shall sign in at any time up to ten (10) minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting.... The first five people to sign in shall speak at a meeting. Each speaker will speak in the order in which the speaker signed in. Each speaker shall be provided up to three minutes." (http://www.msdlouky.org/pdfs/MSDPublicParticipationProcedures20110613.pdf) Speakers no longer are required to bring to the board the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West before they are granted an audience.

It wasn't only alleged conflict of interest allegations and ivory towerism perceptions that led to the state audit. According to James Bruggers of The Courier-Journal, MSD:

"* Has spent more than $7 million on outside lawyers since 2006, in addition to supporting a staff of four attorneys.
"* Paid $350 an hour for a team-building coach in 2009 and 2010, at first without a contract.
"* Increased an outgoing human resources director's salary in the last five months of her career in 2008 to boost her public pension.
"* Settled a threatened whistleblower lawsuit in December with the agency's most recent human resources director for $140,000 and a promise of silence after he raised allegations of waste, fraud and mismanagement.
"* Paid almost $300,000 in bonuses to its 18 highest-paid employees during the recession.
"* Paid raises and bonuses to Schardein and chief engineer Mark Johnson in 2009, just months after Schardein promised both would take 10 percent pay reductions for that year." (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110707/NEWS01/307070074/State-auditor-Crit-Luallen-conduct-MSD-review)

I'm sorry to say there's more. Bruggers previously reported: "An internal audit done three years ago by the Metropolitan Sewer District was sharply critical of the business practices of its outside attorney's law firm at the time, but the audit's findings and recommendations were apparently never shown to the MSD board.... (The audit) said the law firm of Pedley, Zielke, Gordinier & Pence LLC, which did major work for MSD, lacked adequate corporate records, did not keep time sheets for billing and payroll, and in some cases charged the rate of a partner for work done by an associate....

"It could not be determined what happened to the audit once it was done.... Schardein (the communicator, remember?) said he would not discuss the audit, and Paula Purifoy, the agency's legal services director, did not return phone messages or emails asking for an interview." (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011307030003)

If you want a chance at a prize, you can send your concerns about MSD to Schardein directly via mail or e-mail and "be entered in a drawing for a free rain barrel, he wrote (in a letter to rate payers). Luallen said Schardein’s appeal for comments or criticisms has nothing to do with her agency’s audit of MSD.... She said people who have concerns about MSD can send them to her office’s general telephone tip line, at...." (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110707/NEWS01/307070074/State-auditor-Crit-Luallen-conduct-MSD-review)

I share this story as a sewery example of what can happen when a utility or public agency radiates transparency, but is seen to be telling only part of the story. Add in public anger at MSD's rapidly escalating rates due to an unfunded EPA mandate and you have the possibility of a ratepayers' revolt, which we are seeing now. I wish Schardein the best, but he may be eaten up by politics and perceptions. He and the board should have been -- and should be -- moving toward being more open. It took an open records request to look into this can of worms, and it shouldn't have.

Murdoch-owned Tabloid Silences Presses And Phone Eavesdropping

Rupert Murdoch's media kingdom has repaired its moat, cast out a rogue, and fortified its strangle-hold on "all the news that's fit to print so long as it's ultra-conservative."

The News of the World, a British weekly, will publish its final issue on Sunday. By shutting the paper down, Murdoch's News Corporation keeps alive its more lucrative $12 billion proposed takeover of the pay-television company British Sky Broadcasting.

"The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid is accused of hacking into the cell phone messages of victims ranging from missing schoolgirls to grieving families, celebrities, royals and politicians in a quest for attention-grabbing headlines. Police say they are examining 4,000 names of people who may have been targeted by the paper." (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/07/news-world-to-publish-last-issue-sunday-following-scandal/)

"The saga turned yet more disturbing Thursday with suggestions that the paper had broken into the voicemail not only of a 13-year-old murder victim but also of relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the paper had paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to police officers for information. The scandal had been taking a toll on the News Corporation, driving down its stock price. Some advertisers were fleeing The News of the World." (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/world/europe/08britain.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=WO-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-MTC-070711-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click)

The Times of London, also a News Corporation publication, said that News of the World writers and executives suspected of involvement in the crisis are expected to be arrested within days. This isn't the first such scandal at the publication.

"Andy Coulson, who was a News of the World editor in the mid-2000s, had been told he would be arrested on Friday. Mr. Coulson resigned from the paper in 2007 after an earlier phone-hacking investigation, but was quickly hired as the Conservative Party’s chief spokesman, and when David Cameron became prime minister last year, he was installed as the government’s chief spokesman. In January he resigned from that job, too, when it became clear that phone hacking was a regular practice when he was The News of the World’s editor."

This is the way the company handled the crises of hacking and closing. "'Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued,' (Murdoch’s son and likely heir apparent, James) said, admitting that the paper and News Corporation’s British newspaper group as a whole, known as News International, had 'failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose,' despite a police investigation in 2006 that sent two men to jail.

"As a result, he said, the paper and company 'wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter. We have now voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences.'”

I don't care for the elder Murdoch's Citizen-Kane-like style, but I sure like his company's handling of this crisis. James faced the problem head-on, admitting News Corporation's British media branch failed to put out the smoldering crisis five years ago when it had the chance. The company accepted responsibility and committed to working with the police. Hang that on your bulletin board, because it's probably the best way to handle a such a serious breach in the law that threatens a pending business deal.

Rupert Murdoch also had the right quotes. "'The good things the News Of The World does, however, have been sullied by behavior that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company. The News Of The World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.'" (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/07/news-world-to-publish-last-issue-sunday-following-scandal/)

News Corporation first did the right thing (closing the tabloid), then said the right thing.