Online Public Relations Thoughts

PR practitioners have enough to worry about in crises, but here is another headache -- people taking video of a dying workers and posting it on YouTube. It is an invasion of privacy that is becoming more common, now that camera phones are ubiquitous. It is likely that the individuals who take the shots aren't thinking about the insensitivity of what they are doing or of the grief families will endure. It is not clear whether there is any kind of policy that would prevent employees from doing this other than common sense. What it does mean, however, is that PR practitioners need to monitor YouTube after a tragic incident to see whether videos of it have been posted, and they may need to take steps to have the videos taken down. There is a point between free speech and personal privacy that should be crossed with trepidation. All I know is that if something fatal happened to me, I would not want my wife and daughter to relive it online.

Labels: PR