{"id":11971,"date":"2009-05-21T17:00:02","date_gmt":"2009-05-21T16:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=11971"},"modified":"2020-01-02T18:26:28","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:26:28","slug":"chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"


<\/p>\n

What do\u00a0corporate giants do when they find themselves in a challenging PR situation and<\/em> in a financial quandary? They have to be very, very careful on how they handle the situation and with what information they divulge to the public. Opinions may vary, facts may be questionable, but\u00a0any company will want to be represented in the most fair, and in the most accurate way as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, when a company finds themselves in a negative light, they want to tell their side of the story too. This is primarily why corporations have dedicated media relations departments and journalists, specifically to share information about their company. Chevron found themselves in a “situation” regarding the incident in Ecuador, and has been sued, forcing them to pay\u00a0damages for allegedly contaminating the Amazon rainforest. Obviously, Chevron has another side of the story, and they want the public to know about it.<\/p>\n

Media Representation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In many cases, corporations have a very hard time getting the media to listen, let alone believe, their side(s) of a story. But in this case with Chevron, they decided that they would forgo any risk of getting their side wrong, so they hired their own “voice” to represent them. Curious? Not if you want to portray accuracy and fairness from your own company’s perspective.<\/p>\n

Representing your corporation in the media can be tricky. It seems that if there is any bad news circulating, it seems to get worse once it gets into the hands of the media.<\/p>\n

Does this mean that the media is wrong or bad? No!<\/p>\n

Does it mean that the media doesn’t accurately report their stories? Absolutely not!<\/p>\n

What it does<\/em> mean is this: everyone, including the media, has an opinion about a story and even about a set of facts. Their job is to present their opinion, or rather, their side(s) of the story in whatever light of information that is available.\u00a0In other words, just because the facts are there doesn’t always mean that an entity will receive fair and accurate reporting.\u00a0Remember that dedicated media relations department mentioned earlier? Well, this is where it becomes beneficial to the company.<\/p>\n

Your Own Voice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chevron, surely by being somewhat overwhelmed, enlisted the services of their own PR person, Gene Randall<\/a>, to present their side of a controversial story. Mr. Randall, who is also a former\u00a0CNN correspondent, acted on behalf of Chevron and gave a report about the Ecuadorian situation a couple of weeks just before a negative report was given by CBS’s 60 minutes.<\/p>\n

\n<\/object>\n<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Although both reports are conflicting in nature (in facts and opinion), Chevron’s whole goal was to be able to represent themselves in the way that is going to benefit their company and further their mission. Is that alright? Isn’t that what companies are supposed to do?<\/p>\n

The Solution: What Chevron is Doing<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you do if your corporation is attacked in the media? How do you approach a sensitive subject with tact and professionalism, but still convey to your market what really happened without a complete conflict and breakdown in communications? You must protect your corporate entity at all costs. A company’s reputation is like an individual’s reputation. They can be scarred and ruined with bad, incorrect or misleading ideas or information.<\/p>\n

Chevron is\u00a0using a variety of techniques and channels to get their side of the story across in a number of different ways:<\/p>\n

1. Videos<\/strong><\/p>\n

The video above is on YouTube, so it would appear in any searches on this topic in that channel. Having this video available allows for both the\u00a0positive and the negative sides of the story to\u00a0appear together. Also, Chevron has a dedicated site\u00a0 (http:\/\/www.texacoinchevron.com<\/a>) that allows them to publish their\u00a0side of the story.<\/p>\n

2. Twitter it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chevron has an official Twitterer (@Chevron_JustinH), who is presumably monitoring this topic closely. Also, the\u00a0search results for a variety of searches with keywords of Chevron, Texaco and Ecuador return with both sides of the story. This indicates that\u00a0Chevron may have search optimisation experts who are working\u00a0to ensure that their side of the story is highly ranked.<\/p>\n

These things to me sound like a fair, responsible company who is working to ensure that equitable and balanced treatment is enacted, for both parties.<\/p>\n

What Else?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, there are times when the corporation will be wrong. And yes, there are times when the media will have gotten it wrong too. But if a company ensures that they have systems in place to represent them accurately, positively or negatively, then the challenging part is under control. They can then concern themselves with other things like marketing and customer retention and running the corporation. There will always be opinions flying. Just make sure the facts are there and accurate, and there will be no worries over who said what.<\/p>\n

What else could Chevron have done or should do\u00a0to further publish their\u00a0side of the story? I would love to know your\u00a0views on how you feel that Chevron is communicating their position in this controversy. But, be nice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do\u00a0corporate giants do when they find themselves in a challenging PR situation and in a financial quandary? They have to be very, very careful on how they handle the situation and with what information they divulge to the public. Opinions may vary, facts may be questionable, but\u00a0any company will want to be represented in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24],"tags":[2781,172,2801,2791],"class_list":{"0":"post-11971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-media","8":"tag-chevron","9":"tag-corporate-media-relations","10":"tag-ecuador","11":"tag-texaco","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nChevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do\u00a0corporate giants do when they find themselves in a challenging PR situation and in a financial quandary? They have to be very, very careful on how they handle the situation and with what information they divulge to the public. Opinions may vary, facts may be questionable, but\u00a0any company will want to be represented in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/images\/logo.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Wright\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bridgetwright\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lucynixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Wright\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Wright\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/b0d42cba22f3b80ec26ebbb77cdf81b5\"},\"headline\":\"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\"},\"wordCount\":862,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"chevron\",\"corporate media relations\",\"ecuador\",\"texaco\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Best Practices\",\"Media\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\",\"name\":\"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\",\"name\":\"Corporate Eye\",\"description\":\"...compare, compete, excel\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Corporate Eye\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png\",\"width\":283,\"height\":42,\"caption\":\"Corporate Eye\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/lucynixon\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/b0d42cba22f3b80ec26ebbb77cdf81b5\",\"name\":\"Bridget Wright\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/943327b726335cbac9783eb8efbc9304242cd4fc6e88799538e158d44766ccb9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/943327b726335cbac9783eb8efbc9304242cd4fc6e88799538e158d44766ccb9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Wright\"},\"description\":\"I am a freelance writer, blogger and professional motivational speaker. I primarily focus on business content, offering my clients strategic marketing strategies for their businesses. I have been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, after having worked extensively in corporate America.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.bridgetwright.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/bridgetwright\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/author\/bridgetw\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye","og_description":"What do\u00a0corporate giants do when they find themselves in a challenging PR situation and in a financial quandary? They have to be very, very careful on how they handle the situation and with what information they divulge to the public. Opinions may vary, facts may be questionable, but\u00a0any company will want to be represented in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/","og_site_name":"Corporate Eye","article_published_time":"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/images\/logo.gif","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Bridget Wright","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bridgetwright","twitter_site":"@lucynixon","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Wright","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Wright","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/b0d42cba22f3b80ec26ebbb77cdf81b5"},"headline":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy","datePublished":"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/"},"wordCount":862,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization"},"keywords":["chevron","corporate media relations","ecuador","texaco"],"articleSection":["Best Practices","Media"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/","name":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy - Corporate Eye","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-05-21T16:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-02T17:26:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/chevron-corporate-communications-in-a-controversy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chevron: Corporate Communications in a Controversy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/","name":"Corporate Eye","description":"...compare, compete, excel","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization","name":"Corporate Eye","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/corporate-eye-logo.png","width":283,"height":42,"caption":"Corporate Eye"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/lucynixon"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/b0d42cba22f3b80ec26ebbb77cdf81b5","name":"Bridget Wright","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/943327b726335cbac9783eb8efbc9304242cd4fc6e88799538e158d44766ccb9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/943327b726335cbac9783eb8efbc9304242cd4fc6e88799538e158d44766ccb9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Bridget Wright"},"description":"I am a freelance writer, blogger and professional motivational speaker. I primarily focus on business content, offering my clients strategic marketing strategies for their businesses. I have been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, after having worked extensively in corporate America.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.bridgetwright.com","https:\/\/x.com\/bridgetwright"],"url":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/author\/bridgetw\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Lucy Nixon","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11971"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51055,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971\/revisions\/51055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}