How to avert a social media crisis? Develop an ethics statement — and stick to it

An interesting question for marketers arose in the wake of Roseanne Barr's self-destruction earlier this week. How should companies respond when a public relations crisis develops at lightening speed online?

The problem is framed in two ways. First, there's the old problem of simply deciding how to respond. But more urgently today is the question of how quickly you can do it.

Respond immediately and you get to control the narrative. Take too long and, well, things might really get out of hand and (more importantly) out of your control. 

In the case of Roseanne, the decision to cancel her very popular and lucrative reboot after her racist tweet was for parent company Disney a no-brainer.

"There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing," tweeted Robert Iger, Disney's chair, after ABC announced the cancelation. 

But what happens when the scenario is "murkier?" That's a question Michael M. Grynbaum poses in an analysis piece for The New York Times. 

"It isn't a bright line and it isn't a science," one communications consultant says of the way companies handle an employee at the center of a social media flap. 

Another source says companies "should think about what a reasonable person would reasonably expect an organization to do, under such circumstance."

There is a much easier way. Companies should rely on an existing statement of ethics, whether one they developed or one they adopt from a parent company or industry organization.

As former journalists, we relied often on the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. It helped guide us through tough questions about what to report, what to leave out, when to hold a story and when it was ready to run regardless of the controversies.

Journalists use the SPJ code of ethics not just because journalism itself is fraught with tough ethical questions, but precisely because decisions in newsrooms must be made with only hours or sometimes minutes to spare. 

So regardless of what industry you're in, develop or borrow a code of ethics. And be prepared to abide by it, and then to refer to it when others question your decision. 

In the case of ABC and Disney, Roseanne may have violated their company ethics code.  They should work on making that more clear. 

In other words, don't rely on what you think "a reasonable person would reasonably expect" you to do. Rely on what you said you would do in a crisis before it even hits.