JCOM 2300 Thoughts...Reputation

I found what happened with Tiger Woods over the past week to be very interesting from a public relations perspective. Tiger Woods, the famous and billion dollar golf player was found early Friday morning next to his SUV that had crashed into a tree and fire hydrant with the back windows shattered. Tiger Woods, at the time was unconscious but his neighbor, who had found him, called police for help. After the incident, Tiger Woods would not make any comments to the media and said he and his family were handling the situation alone. I wondered why he was so reluctant to release any information, thinking the worst case scenario is that he had been drunk or recklessly driving. After information had been released, it was found that Tiger Woods had been involved in several affairs and his wife, after finding out, hit him and the back windows of their car with a golf club (ironically). Woods did not want anyone to know because of his reputation and his name. After this came out, I found it fascinating that someone as prominent and respected as a world class golf player would keep this information from the media and the public. If I was a personal public relations consultant for Tiger Woods, I would suggest an immediate press conference announcing exactly what happened and what would be done to fix it. Although Tiger Woods had been involved in several affairs, his character may have been in more danger if he had waited any longer to explain the situation. This follows back to why it’s so important to answer to the public or media when a crisis happens. The information is put out there along with the comfort to investors or customers that things are being worked on and the situation will be fixed. As a public relations specialist, reassurance and coming to the public first is always eminent.