Creative Territory

New crisis media workshop helps organisations reduce panic
2 September 2008

Creative Territory’s new Crisis Media Workshop is helping organisations understand the importance of dealing with the media appropriately in a crisis situation.

The workshop was developed by Creative Territory’s Tracy Jones and Jeannette Button in response to clients who said they needed a forum to help their organisations understand the role media plays.

Both Tracy and Jeannette have dealt extensively with major issues and crises over many years and Creative Territory holds the contract for crisis and issues management for the Northern Territory Government’s Department of the Chief Minister.

Jeannette said the key to dealing with a developing issue is to understand the media’s need for information.

“While there is a need to not elevate the issue through your own actions, it’s important for other people in the organisation – not just the media manager – to understand that you have to deal with the media,” she said.

“Our course is a response to that organisational need.”

Tracy said the workshop was not designed to teach all the skills required to deal with a major issue or crisis.

“We want people to understand the basics and to understand that the way they deal with the media – the things they say, not just the things they do – can have a big impact on how bad the issue becomes,” Tracy said.

“There’s only one way out of a crisis and that’s through recovery. Every action and reaction needs to be focused on the future, not the here and now.”

Creative Territory has developed its own model for crisis management that recognises the different stages of a major incident and the triggers for development. This forms part of the workshop, along with an interactive exercise.