Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference.

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	• STOP THE PRESSES: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference Esq. Richard S. Levick, Larry Smith Watershed Press, 2007 - 233 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"Be prepared" is better than "be sorry."

It's rare that a book can serve as an "insurance policy," but Stop The Presses comes as close as any I have read. Nobody relishes the idea of a crisis situation befalling them or their business--but crises do strike--and by definition, they are unexpected. If a company's management has read, or even browsed those neat little gray "So Don't Forget" boxes at the end of each chapter of Stop The Presses, it will have taken the first step on the road to preparedness.

Ricard Levick and Larry Smith make this sometimes frightening topic eminently readable, and fill the pages with useful, do's, don't and "don't forgets." Their experience is evident all through the book. No book is a substitute for the right advisers and advice, but this one covers many of the crises and legal/regulatory troubles with just enough explanation to start readers on the path to the right kind of actions.

As I stated at the start: it isn't quite an insurance policy, but for $30, it might just save your reputation or your company. And that's probably the best $30 you could spend. Buy it; read it; and hope you never need it. You'll sleep better at night.

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"Must Read" for Outside and Inside Counsel as well as PR Folks

After having devoured this book, I can highly recommend reading it.

It is easy to read and offers lots of very practical advice on how to master or even prevent crisis. Richard and Larry have apparently broad experience in helping troubled companies in times of difficulties; and they share their knowledge with a good portion of humor, many real world references and examples, and very helpful appendixes.

Their emphasis on "prevention" made it clear to me how important it is for nearly every company's "survival" to anticipate the potential for crisis and to set up early the required structures. I liked in particular the reminder - or wake up call for many of us - on how important it is to become part of the blog community.

This book should be bed side lecture for everybody who manages communication on behalf of any size and type of company, in particular outside counsel, members of legal and PR departments. It is a great 1x1 on crisis management but also offers lots of depth.

I immediately thought of British Airways' management who should have read this book before opening Heathrow's new terminal and entering into disaster. They would most probably be better off today!

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Advanced Strategies for Crisis Communication

Don't buy this book for your PR department. Buy it for your attorneys.

Levick bridges the gap between the need for an organization to speak publicly during a crisis and its legal department's desire to keep the corporate yap locked tight. An attorney himself, Levick understands perception trumps fact, and that at crisis time the real battle won't happen in a court of law; it's already happening in the court of public opinion.

Filled with insights and strategies for short-circuiting a media assault from newspapers still in print to online bloggers, "Stop the Presses" is a must-read for those who think they know crisis communications.

Levick also explains the critical need for advance preparation, on-going media awareness and outside legal and communications counsel in a crisis, three steps lacking in too many organizations.

A clear winner.

Dennis Dean
The Dean Group

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Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference.

Stop the Presses (2nd Ed.) is a reference book, but it can only be considered a primer for anyone needing to respond to crisis and litigation. I especially like appendix. Most readers will find them helpful.

Clearly written, fun to read, and indispensable

Richard S. Levick and Larry Smith have delivered the definitive book, at least for now, on crisis communications and litigation PR. (Brief disclosure: I have met and chatted with both of them, but this review is, I hope, unaffected by any personal contacts.)

Levick and Smith don't hold back in describing some disastrous public relations gaffes by major companies, and they also give credit to corporations that understood how important the "court of public opinion" can be. These authors also know how to write: the book is free from marketing and PR jargon, and is easy and even fun to read. As a media relations professional and former reporter and editor, I have put this book on my desk next to my computer.

The authors also recognize the importance of blogs - both as tools that a company or law firm's opponents can use and as tools that are well suited to defense as well.

The recommended use of "message points," though hardly original with Levick and Smith, reaches a high plateau here. Their recommendations for pharmaceutical companies, antitrust defendants, even asbestos makers, are not merely plausible but convincing.

Sometimes a firm needs to stand tough and fight the battle in the media. Sometimes it needs to stand down. Levick and Smith help explain the difference.

This would be a five-star review except that the authors' constant use of brief stories -- in a different and jarring typeface -- as sidebars in the text is off-putting and even a bit amateurish. Sometimes, it's even hard to follow. The fact that they must put "continued" lines into their book ("See page 147") should have been a tip-off that the typography here is not ideal.

Still, this is a terrific book.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

STOP THE PRESSES: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference is a communications survival manual for the Internet Age. With over 50,000 copies in print, the second edition of this acclaimed book is a must-read for C-Suites, legal counsel, and communications specialists. Updated text includes fresh material covering the online media that are now so decisive for brand and reputation management, along with extensive discussion of recent industry crises, from product recalls to data security breaches. STOP THE PRESSES defines the best communications practices for corporations, countries, and high-profile individuals facing trials by fire in the Court of Public Opinion. Here are the dos and don'ts of crisis planning and media relations- print and broadcast as well as blogs and other online media- with in-depth analyses of cross-border issues, SEC investigations, law firm crises, product liability, antitrust, health care, and more. STOP THE PRESSES now includes an insightful preface by legendary brand guru Jack Trout.

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