Submitted by admin on Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 05:15

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The next time a health crisis hits Knoxville, expect to get all the information up front.

At least, that's what will happen if local public relations professionals - and the organizations they represent - take the advice of Barbara Reynolds.

Reynolds, who is crisis communication specialist for the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was keynote speaker at the Public Relations Society of American's "PR Day 2008" conference Friday at the University of Tennessee.

"If you seriously think you're going to get away with a lie, you are deluded," Reynolds told an audience made up largely of PR representatives. "Today, the truth will always come out - and it's a lot easier to tell the truth to begin with."

Contrary to what organizations sometimes reason, it's uncertainty, and the anxiety it causes, that brings on panic, said Reynolds, who teaches the CDC's "Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication" course.

"Once we know the truth, we can deal with it," she said. "It may be counter-intuitive, but people are actually very good at managing bad news."

Besides, she added, if they're not getting any information, they'll seek it out from another source - possibly one that has wrong information or even intends to manipulate the public.

"Be first, be right, be credible," she said, quoting the CDC's model.

Reynolds shared stories of how the CDC has handled crises, such as food recalls, that were potentially damaging to an entire industry. She likes to follow what she labeled the "mom" test.

"If we're going to leave a room where we (public relations professionals) have privileged information, and walk out and call our moms or somebody else we care about … why shouldn't every mom get" the same information? she asked.

Humans have to fight the temptation to lie, Reynolds said. And while people may claim they're lying for the good of others, she said, that's an arrogant supposition.

When she, as a PR communicator, hears bad news, she reasons, she doesn't jump up screaming and pulling out her hair.

"Why do we think we can take in information and not panic, but the public will?" she asked.

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