Online Public Relations Thoughts

I missed this story earlier this week but it is important for PR practitioners, especially those fighting rumors about an individual or company. According to this story, fighting may make the matter worse, if the myth is repeated while providing accurate information. We have known for a long time in communications that repeating allegations while answering questions is bad because a reporter can quote one out of context. This story points out that it is also a bad way to respond because people tend to associate the charge with the person and believe the myth. In other words, we have to train ourselves how to respond to rumors without mentioning the rumors. That is not always easy to do, but there is little choice.