Crisis Plan 2014
Created by: Alex Amsinger
Table of Contents
Scenario…………………………………………………………………… page 3
Before Going Public……………………………………………………… page 3
Going Public……………………………………………………………..…page 4 – 5
Incident Report…………………………………………………………..…page 6
Debriefing…………………………………………………………………..page 6
Press Release Example……………………………………………………...page 7
Social Media Example………………………………………………………page 8
Scenario
For this crisis plan, Yadier Molina has been using steroids for a while and is finally
caught by some of his fellow players. Then, those players that found him in the act inform the
head coach Mike Matheny about what was found. Next, Yadier is informed of his indiscretion
and it is brought to the officials who are going to weigh out how Yadier should be punished for
such an act that Major League Baseball is trying to prevent from happening. The following
crisis plan scenario will help give life to the following plan and how it would be executed in a
timely fashion.
Before Going Public With The Incident
Before going public with the incident, there are several steps that need to be taken in
order for the incident to be resolved as smoothly as possible. The first step is that, in this case,
you would want to confront the player, Yadier Molina, and give him a chance to give his side of
the story and maybe get some insight on what happened. Next step is to inform the appropriate
officials about the incident. This will ensure that everyone that needs to know will and the
appropriate officials should include: head coach, general manager of the Cardinals, and Major
League Baseball officials. The third step would be to have a discussion with the appropriate
officials and decide on what would be the best way to handle this crisis, in regards to but not
limited to, social media, press releases, and press conferences. What all this means is that
everything should be written out and discussed before anything is given to any kind of media.
Finally, there will need to be a spokesperson(s) for each of the above because then that way there
is only one person people will be going to get information about how the incident is being
handled.
Going Public With The Incident
The one thing that will be kept in mind here is that there will need to be a press release
for each outlet we need to address. This could mean a variety of things. The first being that we
give certain news stations the press release. The press release will be given to local news
stations, first. Any additional press releases will be given to any other news outlets, accordingly.
The major thing here is that we would make sure that there was designated person that had a list
of dos and don’ts when it came to answering inquiries about what have happened and how we
are handling the issue. The outline below is what this would look like:
First Couple of Hours:
•
Alert the Head Coach, Mike Matheny, about the incident
• Obtain confirmed details about the incident
• Alert MLB Higher ups members, informing them about incident
• Activate Communications Committee, alerting them about incident.
• Alert staff crisis team members, informing them about the incident.
• Prepare to communicate about the incident.
• Appoint a spokesperson.
Order of responsibility:
1. Head Coach
2. General Manager
3. Key Direct Report
• Alert communications assistant/receptionist where to direct reporters or telephone
calls.
• Prepare key message statement.
• Obtain key message statement approvals..
• Appoint a staff member to monitor and collect local media reports about the incident.
Next 4-5 Hours:
•
Alert employees, informing them about the incident/situation.
•
Gather information and feedback about the situation from external sources.
•
Appoint staff to escort media representatives and/or photographers.
Day 2:
•
Maintain pro-active, open communications with all media.
•
Identify and resolve any emerging issues.
•
Continue to update and distribute key message statement as needed.
• Evaluate overnight media and Internet coverage for tone and possible new issues.
Incident Report
The incident report that will be filed for the incident is crucial in finding out what
happened during the incident. Another reason for the incident report is to be able to have it to
say that we can prove something happened, if the question arises about it. However, this report
isn’t just for what’s going on during the incident but after the incident takes place. So, in this
case, when Molina is questioned about the steroid usage, we have undeniable proof that he had
the enhancing drugs and that he needs to be reprimanded in some way.
Also, this report is crucial for the media because then they have all the information in the
end and they cannot falter, in theory, when it comes to the facts. I find the incident report
helpful, in this regard, because the media has a way of stretching the truth and with an incident
report in hand they can’t say one thing and do another.
Debriefing After The Situatiom
After the incident is all said and done there will need to be some sort of debriefing to
determine what was done well and what needed improvement. The debriefing will include
everybody involved with handling the incident and will have the chance to form opinions on how
things were handled. The debriefing, in this case, would be in neutral location so as not to bring
in unwanted guests to talk about what was done right and what was done wrong. This should
also give people involved a chance to get whatever last minute questions answered. What is
meant by this is that they would have a chance to ask how something was done and/or how
things could be done to help with future incidents or accidents.
Contact Info: John Mozeliak, General Manager, St. Louis Cardinals
700 Clark Street
St. Louis, MO 63102
Telephone: 314-345-9600
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Louis Cardinals Player, Yadier Molina, Caught With Enhancing Drugs
St. Louis suspends Yadier Molina indefinitely for the next 15 games.
St. Louis, MO May 19, 2014 – St. Louis Cardinals are committed to making sure that every
player is following the rules when it comes to their drug policy. This has been and will continue
to be a major part in keeping with the mission of eliminating the usage of steroids or
performance enhancing drugs all together.
“The situation regarding Molina is very upsetting to us because of our striving to be the best
without having to feel the need to use performance enhancing drugs. Also, it is felt that this
particular star player has hurt that image,” said John Mozeliak, General Manager of St. Louis
Cardinals.
While Yadier Molina was and still is a star competitor, it remains to be seen why such a great
athlete would do such a thing. An investigation is being done as to why and we hope to have
more information regarding this very soon. This is quite a shock to many fans who have looked
up to Yadier Molina and view him as a hero.
“This is quite shocking due to him being a go-to player. He is someone who has helped this
team get to the World Series and it just doesn’t seem like something he would do given the
chance to do things over again,” stated Mozeliak.
Molina will be suspended for the next 15 games or until documentation, to determine if Molina
needed the performance drugs, is given.
###
Social Media Examples
Facebook:
St. Louis Cardinals: We are shocked to announce that Yadier Molina will be out for 15 games.
Details will be released this afternoon.
St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina was discovered to have performance enhancing drugs. Come
back for more details as we receive them.
Twitter:
@Cardinals: Molina was caught with performance drugs. He will be meeting with officials to
discuss further action…
@Cardinals: Molina suspended for 15 games. More to news to follow…