Three Lessons That Show the Difference Between Crisis Chaos and Crisis Control

Why Every Organisation Needs Media Training Before a Crisis Hits

Imagine this.

You wake up to find your organisation splashed across the front page of every major news site in the country. Journalists are outside the office. Your phone won’t stop ringing. Staff are panicking. Your CEO turns to you and asks, “What do we say?”

And the truth is…no one knows.

A crisis is not the moment to learn how to communicate. It's the moment you wish you had.

In this article, I look at three real lessons from Irish and international organisations that show exactly why media training isn’t optional, it’s essential.

1. Silence Makes Every Crisis Worse

(CervicalCheck — The Cost of Saying Nothing)

When leaders are unprepared, they freeze.They stay silent.They hope the problem will blow over.

But silence is a message and it’s rarely a good one.

When the CervicalCheck scandal broke in 2018, the early communication response was slow, defensive, and unclear. Women who should have been told about incorrect smear-test results had been left in the dark. When the truth emerged, the public reaction was immediate and overwhelming:

• outrage

• mistrust

• devastation

It wasn’t just the scandal itself. It was the absence of communication that deepened the harm.

It took the courage and clarity of Vicky Phelan to force transparency into the public domain, something that leadership should have been ready to provide.

Had early communication been:

• honest

• human

• timely

• prepared

  
  

…the damage might have been reduced.

Silence is a vacuum. And in a crisis, the public will fill that vacuum with fear, anger, and speculation.

2. The Wrong Message at the Wrong Time Destroys Trust

(Oxfam — When Mixed Messages Create a Second Crisis)

If silence is dangerous, saying the wrong thing has the power to destroy your organisation.

In 2018, Oxfam GB faced allegations that senior staff had used prostitutes in Haiti after the earthquake — and that the organisation had attempted to hide the full account of what happened.

Different spokespeople gave different messages:

• some were defensive

• some downplayed the seriousness

• one even accused critics of “overblowing” the issue

The public reacted with disbelief. Government funding was frozen. Donations plummeted. A decades-strong reputation crumbled in days.

The UK Charity Commission later concluded that Oxfam’s response was driven by “a desire to protect its reputation” rather than address the underlying issues properly.

The lesson is simple: Unprepared leaders say the wrong thing at the worst possible time.

Media training helps leaders understand:

• what to say

• what not to say

• how to avoid speculation

• how to show empathy without admitting liability

• when to take responsibility and apologise fully

  
  

One sentence can protect trust — or destroy it. Oxfam learned that the hard way.

3. When People Are Prepared, Crises Become Manageable

(HSE Cyberattack — Communication That Held the Country Together)

Not every crisis spirals into reputational catastrophe.

In 2021, the HSE was hit with the largest cyberattack in the history of the Irish State:

• hospital systems crashed

• appointments were cancelled

• patient safety was at risk

  
  

This had all the ingredients of national chaos.

But something powerful happened instead.

HSE leadership held daily briefings that were:

• calm

• consistent

• honest

• non-speculative

They didn’t sugarcoat. They didn’t hide what they didn’t know. They spoke clearly, frequently, and with empathy.

And the result?

Public trust held steady.

Prepared communication didn’t fix the cyberattack. But it prevented a second, equally damaging crisis: a crisis of trust.

That is the power of trained spokespeople and proactive communication.

The Bottom Line: You Need Media Training Before You Need It

If you remember just one line from this insight, let it be this:

A crisis doesn’t create bad communication, it reveals it.

You don’t buy insurance when you smell smoke. You don’t start swimming lessons when you’re already drowning. And you don’t learn to speak to the media on the day the cameras arrive.

Because by then, the story has already started without you.

Media training isn’t a luxury. It isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It is essential protection for organisations that care about:

• their people

• their reputation

• their mission

• and the truth

A crisis is not the moment to learn how to communicate. It's the moment you’ll wish you had. If you’d like to prepare your leaders, spokespeople, or teams for high-pressure moments, I deliver journalist-led media training for organisations across Ireland.