LaSage: PSU Dropped The PR Ball
(WSCR) With a situation as delicate as the one surrounding Penn State and Jerry Sandusky, media relations are crucial.
As public relations expert John LaSage will admit, Penn State has done everything wrong in that area since reports of sexual abuse by Sandusky first surfaced.
"They needed to issue a statement," LaSage said. "You always have to do that in a situation like this. The statement always encompasses three points: Point No. 1 is that you explain how distressed you are about this and you apologize to those who were victimized. Point No. 2 is your commitment to find out how and why this happened and your commitment to find who was responsible. Point No. 3, and most important, is that once you find those responsible, you are going to deal with them in the appropriate manner."
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LaSage also pointed to head coach Joe Paterno's statement where he said he was "shocked" by allegations.
"You have a statement from Paterno where he said he was "shocked" by this. Again, the use of words," LaSage said. "Shocked implies that you didn't know anything about this, that all of the sudden you found this out. Of course, there's no rational or right-thinking person who would ever believe that Joe Paterno was shocked by this."
"I think the most shameful thing that has happened over the past couple of days is that (Paterno) has been allowed to coach the football team. He is obviously going to be with the coaching staff at the game (on Saturday) and go through the year. I think that is just a terrible thing for the reputation of Penn State University."
