Hunter Biden Tries to Save Father from a Political Nightmare [Newsweek Quoting Sarah Larson]
The goal of crisis management is to mitigate the negative impact of a crisis. The recent crisis surrounding misdemeanor charges against Hunter Biden is a case study in a communications strategy aimed at depriving a negative news story of oxygen, according to crisis communication experts quoted in an article in Newsweek, including Furia Rubel Executive Vice President Sarah Larson.
Larson told reporter Nick Reynolds that by trying to bring the case against him to a swift conclusion, Biden was trying to rob the political story of staying power, hopefully diminishing the impact the controversy might have on his father Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
“News stories and political campaigns, they’re both built on friction,” said Larson. “We don’t write stories about things that are going right. No one’s going to read the story about the cat that didn’t get stuck up in the tree that day. So in this particular case, by pleading guilty, Hunter Biden ends that storyline. He takes away that issue. It’s a non-story, there’s nothing to report.”
Whether or not that particular tactic is successful, Larson also notes that the fast pace of the news cycle also works to Biden’s advantage. In her 10 years in the field of crisis communications, she has seen the news cycle evolve to a point where even high-profile cases can blow over in a matter of days when handled with a keen crisis communications strategy.
In addition to Larson, other experts in the crisis management sphere are quoted in the article, including communications consultant James Haggerty and litigation communications specialist Montieth Illingworth.
Related content:
- ‘Most Incidents Can Be Controlled’: Legal Chiefs Say Keeping a Level Head Can Avert Crises [Corporate Counsel Quoting Gina Rubel]
- The Role of General Counsel in Times of Crisis with Maria Feeley, Chief Legal Officer of Washington and Lee University
Read the full article: Hunter Biden Saves Father From a Political Nightmare
