Can This Reputation Be Saved?

Professional Hockey

The short answer: Probably not.

You know the sport is in trouble when even those passionate hockey fans north of our border were shocked by violence in a game. After a number of violent injuries on Canadian ice in recent years it was that sucker-punch in Denver that finally awakened the world to how vicious the sport has become. A wave of disgust and outrage ensued after Vancouver Canucks star Todd Bertuzzi dropped Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore from behind, sending him to the hospital with a concussion and two broken vertebrae in his neck. It has spawned arguments across North America over the role of rough justice in hockey.

Bertuzzi was suspended for the rest of the season and must apply for re-instatement before next season. Once again it is an action that provides the catalyst for a decline in reputation. After years of categorizing hockey has just a rough but well-meaning and exciting sport, the concussion in Colorado provided a tipping point that sparked a broader debate about the sport and the people that play and watch it.

So our lesson today is really about tipping points. At what point does something that everyone knows goes on, but can somehow ignore (inflating numbers and profits for Enron, off-hours trading for the Mutual Funds, warnings from Richard Clark on terrorism, strong-arming legislators to get Medicare bills passed) get pushed into the spotlight? All these things have been going on for years, but something somehow pushes them into the media and they then have a strong impact on reputation.

It seems that national television coverage and books play the biggest role. There is no doubt that Richard Clark's book has provided the tipping point for the lead-up preparations for 9/11, and had the Canucks Avalanche game not been watched by millions, it may not have generated the outrage that it did.

So is there any further argument that the media, hostile or not, play a major factor in managing a reputation? Can the media also play a role in saving a reputation?

In terms of the 9/11 commission, possibly not. Despite all the carefully orchestrated rebuttals of Clark's book, the net is that Clark is winning the credibility battle. Likewise for hockey: the lack of contrition on the part of Bertuzzi has essentially negated all the hockey spinmeisters tried to pull off post trauma.

The lesson is that the media is not the answer. The character, determination and ethics of the organization attempting to spin the media are far more important. And not just for the topic at hand, but for the PR profession as a whole. —KDP

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