Janelle Kluczynski
9/21/2011
Comm. 240
Instr. Boelter-Mundt
Reaction Paper 1
Martha Stewart’s initial public relations response to the charges against her was
basically to lie in the background and keep everything hush for as long as they could.
Martha Stewart did not speak to the public about the alleged charges she was being faced
with, so she was having people she paid very well to speak for her. Stewart denied being
guilty, and claimed she had done nothing wrong. The public or society became wary of
her, and after the courts convicted her of being guilty, she began to look like a liar her
consumers and just about to anyone else. Stewart not only still refused to really give the
public an explanation, she also still refused that she was guilty of doing anything wrong.
After the media coverage had been taken nationwide, Stewart still insisted that her
attorney still to be the one speaking to the public. This article explained that Stewart
would not make eye contact nor speak to the media reporters. Her attorney spoke for her,
and Martha Stewart’s public relations initial response was to let the legal attorney do the
talking.
I believe the key public relations principle that Martha Stewart violated was not
personally addressing the issue of the charges or accusations she was being initially
accused and eventually convicted of. She did not give her consumers and stockholders
an explanation for anything. After she was convicted, she never apologized for anything.
She was found guilty and she still addressed the public only electronically over her
website that she still believed she had done nothing wrong. Stewart should have
addressed the public right on, and instead she completely avoided them like they might
go away.
Had I been advising Martha Stewart during this crisis, I would have definitely had her
confront the media and the public more personally and directly. I would have scheduled
an emergency meeting with the top three public relations practitioners, her attorney, and
her, in order to make sure all of us are on the same page while addressing the public. I
would have tried to convince Martha Stewart in to being completely honest to the public
about her actions, informing them of what she did know about what she did wrong, what
she did not know about any of the misleading information she had received, while being
extremely apologetic to the public about anything and everything that had unfolded from
this scandal. I would have tried to get Stewart involved in more charitable campaigns,
helping others. After her being convicted, I would have explained the importance of
owing the public a personal and formal apology for any disappointment or loss, and had
her turn herself in early. She did end up turning herself in early, but the public was still
left without her side of her explanation behind her actions and without a formal addressed
apology.
From a public relations stand point, Stewart turning herself in early to serve her prison
time was about one of the only things that had helped her hold onto some part of her
career. Since she did not publically address the public with an explanation, nor with an
apology, whatever she had left of a career depended on her turning herself in early to
serve her sentence. She still has a career today because of this, even though she may not
be or ever will be the “Queen of the Kitchen” again. Stewart did not follow through with
what she owed her consumers, but her turning herself in early to begin serving her
sentence did somewhat show to the public that she was trying to reconcile with her
actions.
Now that Stewart is out of prison and still in the business, she should from this point
on be more public. She should address the public front on and directly, and she should be
as honest as possible. With her being closed off from the public and allowing others to
speak for her will always look like she is trying to hide something from this point on;
therefore, she should not have anyone answer for her. This is the type of public relations
strategy Martha Stewart should adopt from this point on. It is crucial that she addresses
the public directly from this point on, not only for her career, but also for her reputation.
The first thing Martha Stewart should have done with the entire process of this scandal
was to come to terms with what she had done wrong to the public. No one should have
spoken for her. Now that she is released from prison and back to the business making
money, I still believe she should admit that she had made mistakes, and apologize for
them. I believe society is more accepting to the fact of a person owning up to and
admitting their mistakes because everyone makes them. No single person is perfect and
every person makes mistakes. It takes even a bigger person not only to recognize their
mistakes, address them, apologize for them and try to make it right again, but also to
learn from them. With Martha Stewart being a public figure, she should definitely own
up to her wrongs, apologize for them, and show the public that she has learned from
them.