A somewhat bizarre case brings the issue of how we handle crisis news on the web. A college student, president of his class, at a solid institution has allegedly robbed a bank -- earning him, and by association, his school, national headlines. This one probably won't go away for a while.
The only citation on the website is from the student newspaper. Their article pops up as number 1 when you do a search. The question is, should a school in such a situation address this big news on their website? As I write, I realize that this probably isn't the best case since the incident didn't happen on campus -- that would change things, I think.
How do we handle crisis on the web? If a story, no matter how embarassing, is running all over the AP, Google News, and (gasp) blogs, shouldn't we address it up front on our sites? This is a great way to address misinformation and, done right, reinforce our brand. There's perhaps no faster way to look irrelevant than by having no information or comment on a major story on your own site.
Certian situations are naturals and no one would debate using the web to share information. Look at how Tulane handled Katrina response. The web was really their only mass communication tool, and I think they used it masterfully. I'm really thinking of the situations that are a bit more unsavory. A student committing a crime, a serious miscue, etc. Are higher ed websites doing a good job of covering this news and providing perspective? What think you?
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