Posted on 11/10/2011 7:21:05 AM PST by Colofornian
As if the news of what Sandusky allegedly did is not bad enough, many say the way PSU handled the situation has made it even worse.
CBS 21 talked to three experts in public relations, and they said Penn State handled this terribly. As somebody who grew up in Pennsylvania idolizing Joe Paterno and Penn State, this whole situation just hurts.
Not only are the allegations disturbing, but the general consensus among local experts is that Penn State was not thinking of the kids when the news broke, they were thinking about their brand, and that was a terrible decision.
“Penn State overruled everything,” stated Soni Dimond of Soni Dimond Media. “The image of Penn State, the brand was being protected and the children were not.”
“It's a total breakdown,” agreed Roger Kelley of Central Penn College. “It's amazing, Penn State is a top 10 player in football, but in terms of public relations, they were pretty much a bush-league operation.”
The experts all agree. What happened in Penn State was terrible, but how Penn State handled it, made it much worse. First off, the university didn't seem to have any...plan.
People at the school knew Jerry Sandusky had a past. The university should have been prepared for this when the news hit.
“What is Penn State going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?” questioned Peter Shelly of Shelly Communications. “What is the university's plan moving forward? That is not what they talked about right out of the shoot.”
That lack of a plan allowed the story to linger and get worse. Instead of taking swift action to address the public, their donors and alumni, the school seemed to keep quiet, as if they were hoping this would just go away...instead it has just exploded.
(Excerpt) Read more at whptv.com ...
Well, this is just it. The Penn State conspiracy (I'm not saying it was necessarily one from the beginning; but it became a conspiracy of head nods to not let light escape from the campus) didn't want to acknowledge Sandusky at all.
There was an overt commitment to NOT EVER discuss Sandusky in a "horizontal" way (meaning beyond the campus).
From the report: ...Penn State was not thinking of the kids when the news broke, they were thinking about their brand, and that was a terrible decision. “Penn State overruled everything,” stated Soni Dimond of Soni Dimond Media. “The image of Penn State, the brand was being protected and the children were not.”
Bingo! But what do you expect? Not thinking of the kids is what got Penn State into hot water to begin with!!!
From the report: ...lack of a plan allowed the story to linger and get worse.
(Leave it to the "PR experts" who think they can "fix" any horrific story, no matter how bad) The problem isn't simply that this story has "lingered" in the press for so long! Just the reverse! The problem is that Penn State kept this story from hitting the media back in 2002!!!!
Penn State is under a microscopic furor the likes of which has never been seen in college football, and their response has been, for the most part, silence. Or, in the one case where there shouldve been silence, there wasnt. Five days after the child-sex abuse scandal broke, however, the athletic department has finally spoken. In a release, acting athletic director Mark Sherburne addressed the growing scandal and said the university will do everything in its power to restore the trust that has been broken. Heres Sherburnes statement, in its entirety:
The Penn State athletics family is devastated by the details in the Grand Jury presentment. Our hearts go out to the children involved and their families. Every day we are entrusted with the lives of young people, and we do not nor have we ever taken that trust lightly. We are outraged that a valued trust has been broken. We can promise you that we are doing everything in our power to restore that broken trust. Everyone within athletics coaches, administrators, staff and student-athletes are committed to this pledge.
So. How "encouraging." Five days after the scandal broke, for the very first time...the university voice begins to consider the children.
Why. How novel of them!
Btw, to see this statement directly @ Penn State's Web site, go to: Penn State statement
There is no longer any college administration with cojones.
Period.
Simple the Left destroys anything remotely human, they cannot help it.
Shades of what God is going to bring on the Obuggery Administration and the corrupt establishment in Washington this year.
Not where homosexuals are concerned.
They needed an expert to figure that out?
Interesting point to note that Sandusky was abusing boys. As a homosexual, he is part of an honored group, according to political correctness.
The fact that he was homosexual may even have been a reason this could go on so long. Fear of taking on a politically correct group may have kept people from dealing with him early on.
I think (hope) that things will get moving fast, now that the Pres was kicked out last night. Remember he only made one statement, one of unconditional support for the two liars under indictment and the pledge to use university resources to defend them. I do not think you can begin to act properly under scum like that.
I’m hopefull because the PA Gov (Corbett) was the DA that headed the last investigation on the creep, and Corbett is a member of the board of trustees. I believe he will dig deeper than anybody else would.
Maybe there’s one honorable mainstream journalist out there who’ll tackle the story from this angle... because it definitely IS part of the story.
Most of them don’t start that way...they just get sucked into it.
“Maybe there’s one honorable mainstream journalist out there who’ll tackle the story from this angle... because it definitely IS part of the story.”
Sandusky is a Republican.
ACLU/NAMBLA and Big Media must be very conflicted right now.
“Say it isn’t so, Joe.”
The problem was that their President, Graham Spanier, is a long-time pervo defender and moral relativist who probably saw absolutely nothing wrong with what Sandusky was doing.
He even came to the defense of his VP and AD as they were being led away in handcuffs!
This could get much, much, much worse. Here is a link to WPXI in Pittsburgh. Chilling that this Sandusky scandal could be tied to the disappearance of a former Centre County PA Prosecutor:
http://www.wpxi.com/news/29715888/detail.html
right now class, at Happy Valley (PSU Main Campus) cancelled for today and likely tomorrow. Small scale rioting on campus and in town late last night. PA State Police and local PDs on standby (and yes, riot gear was used last night during crowd control). A few injuries, including a member of media (camera man hit by rock). A media van overturned. No word, but a lot of rumors on whether or the PSU Nebraska game will be a ‘go’ on Saturday. Further rumor...classes may be cancelled for next week (dorms emptied, but a lot live in apartments near by—huge campus) to ‘cool things down.’
Save us from the “PR experts”. The only “plan” that would have worked 100 percent would have been to turn this matter over to law enforcement & let the chips fall. I understand that the ‘98 incident was investigated up to a point. Maybe it failed due to ‘lack of evidence’ or maybe there is a larger conspiracy, but a 2nd Sandusky investigation would have been that much harder to derail.
No fear.
Spanier made his career out of embracing the LGBT lifestyle. He did it at UNL and also at Penn State.
If he fully embraced the LGBT agenda, then he would also embrace the concept that minors can give sexual consent.
This may be why the Sandusky incidents were never reported because Sandusky would have claimed the sex was consensual.
Captain Obvious to the rescue.
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