Terror in the Towers: A Media Relations Pro Tells His Story (1993)

Imagine crisis communications nightmare after World Trade Center bombing--the worst terrorist act in American history. Six people killed and a 1,000 more injured. Forty thousand people streaming out of building ... faces covered with soot ... crying ... confused ... scared. Their bewilderment televised worldwide. Next, imagine being a media relations officer for building owner, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA). It has taken 90 anxious minutes to descend a smoke-filled stairwell from your 68th floor office. One hundred reporters want to know what happened--and you don't know answer. worse, early press reports blame your organization for tragedy. crisis situation, of course, is not a hypothetical case study. It was real-life dilemma that Peter Yerkes, a media relations supervisor for PA, faced following terrorist attack on World Trade Center. bombing was not only a true disaster; it also had makings of a public relations disaster of extraordinary magnitude, Yerkes said. reputation of agency would have suffered a terrible blow if it turned out that PA had in some way been lax in protecting tenants and visitors at giant office complex. When bomb exploded at 12:18 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, Yerkes was working at his desk. felt building shake, he recalled. Yerkes knew something terrible had happened. thought a helicopter hit building. Then very quickly, he and co-workers saw smoke on their floor--the 68th floor--which frightened them. You're not supposed to see smoke that high up, he said. According to Yerkes, There were no communications; no one to tell us what to do. Everybody milled around; finally, we headed for stairs. I walked down one flight and thought, 'This isn't so bad.' Except, I got down one flight and had to stop. The stairs were jammed; it was gridlock. Sometimes we had to sit on steps and wait. Meanwhile, smoke got thicker and thicker. When they finally stumbled out into fresh air, PA media relations staff members were as upset, angry and baffled as 40,000 other victims. They had no instructions and no information. And now, no time, because story was breaking quickly. The emergency problems were paramount, but Yerkes said that public relations stakes were enormous, too. The PA faced what could have been a devastating loss of credibility. Lessons learned Reflecting back on that chaotic day, Yerkes has some basic crisis communications advice. What's important to remember is what we did not do, he stressed. We didn't hunker down. The press had access to virtually all information PA had. The only exception was information related to law enforcement. Often, on routine agency matters, Yerkes continued, the temptation is to get all facts; to say that we have to talk to our lawyers first. But you don't have that luxury in a disaster. The press is covering an emergency situation and needs information. Obviously, you can't be irresponsible. You can't go with rumors or gossip or hearsay. But, you have to tell them something; you have to give them what you know, or there will be a vacuum. And, where there's a vacuum, reporters will fill it. This is situation we faced at 2 o'clock that Friday afternoon, Yerkes said. Liaison was quickly established with fire and police departments and other units at emergency command center that had been set up. From beginning, PA Media Relations Director Mark Marchese told his staff to stress two points: We don't know what happened, but, obviously, it was an explosion of tremendous force that ripped our communications system apart. And nothing in building could have created an explosion of that magnitude. About mid-afternoon, a frantic call came from a PA official who had been watching TV coverage. He screamed, Peter, we're getting killed! …