Violence and terror attacks have become a  part of our  daily life  and  not a single day passes  without reports of such incidents  in some parts of the world or other .  Be it  gunning down of students by a fellow student in   the US, taking school children and parents as hostages in  Russia, or terror attacks and bomb blasts in Indian subcontinent .  In most of these instances it is the innocent who are victims.  The recent kamikaze attack on Marriot Hotel in Islamabad is one such senseless and shameful act of cowardice resulting in loss of valuable human lives. 

In such instances where there is no safety for human life or property, it becomes essential for companies to pre-plan and develop strategies for safeguarding their assets and people if they are met with a crisis.  Also it is important for them to know and understand how to communicate during a crisis.  Crisis communication  is a very important topic of study in mass communication . Remember ,  how Pepsi or Coke responded to the campaign against them for traces of pesticides or  how the Left Front Government issued huge ads highlighting the package for the farmers in Singur on the backdrop of the agitation by Mamta Banerjee against the Tata Nano project.

Now , coming back to the  recent attack on Marriot in Islamabad , it  did in fact come as a surprise to me, since Marriot always places a high premium on its security.  But what  inspired me to write this article is  the manner in which the tragic news was communicated by its Chairman through his blog post.  This is one of the best example of  crisis  communication using modern tools like blogging.

The strength displayed by Marriot’s Chairman in communicating the tragedy while condemning the attack and the support  thereafter he  received from people across the globe who reciprocated by condemning the act and  sent their prayers  for the  victims is extremely heartwarming.

Communication has always been an essential part of human life, and with advancement in technology we have taken great strides in communication be it  mobile phones, voice chats, video conferencing or Internet mails, the latest to this list is blogging.  It is here that I would like to emphasize the importance of blogging as a communication tool in crisis management. Given the cynical tendencies of mainstream media, blogs serve as a right medium for communication during crisis which has now become  a heart to heart  personal communication without physical proximity . It is not one to many communication , rather this takes a shape of a very intimate  honest communication since  blogs are personalized.  Even though we do not see each other , but through blogs we can connect emotionally , and can be seen truly speaking from heart unlike  communications  through  other medium that may appear  very formal and superficial.

In the event of a crisis, it is essential to get the facts right and curb rumors.  For this , companies should follow the golden rule of crisis communication  such as Speaking clearly, Involving the public, Being open and honest, Listening to specific concerns or issues, Collaborating with credible sources, and Co-operating with media by meeting their needs or right to information.  The most important need for a company in crisis communication will be to stay ahead of news cycle. 

Choosing blog as a tool for crisis communication  will not only help the company to stay ahead of the news cycle, but  will also avoid unnecessary rumors by providing facts not only to insiders but also to the public in general.  It will help in enhancing the respect of the company in the eyes of its  stakeholders.

For those who have not seen the blog may like to visit 

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