Qantas Could Improve Communication After Emergency Landing
The Story
Fifteen minutes after taking off in London, a Qantas A380 flight made an emergency landing because of engine failure. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but people on board were frightened, grounded passengers wanted more information, and Twitter was abuzz with misinformation.
Discussion Starters
- Who are Qantas' primary audiences for communication during this incident?
- What were Qantas' missed opportunities in communicating about the plane damage and emergency landing?
- What communication media are available to Qantas, and which should take priority for their messages during this time?
- Read the grounded passenger's perspective about communication from Qantas. What could airline personnel have done differently for the Los Angeles passengers?
Assignment Ideas
- Create a communication plan for potential future airline crises. Identify all internal and external audiences, objectives for communicating with each audience, preferred media for each group, and sequence of messages.
- Read the article about Qantas' lackluster Twitter response. Write a few Tweets on behalf of the company to address these concerns.
News Analyst Fired Over Comments about Muslims
The Story
Juan Williams, longtime analyst for NPR News, was fired by the agency for remarks he made on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor." Although Williams warned Bill O'Reilly, the program host, against blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists on 9/11, he did admit to feeling "worried" and "nervous" when he sees people in "Muslim garb" on an airplane. The context for this comment (below) was Bill O'Reilly's dispute on the TV program, "The View," where he said "Muslims killed us on 9/11."
Discussion Starters
- Williams' termination is highly controversial, with some Republican representatives calling for Congress to cut federal funding of NPR. Why would someone take this position? Republican Rep. Peter King said, "This is political correctness carried to its extreme form." What does he mean by this?
- Williams denies that his comments are "bigoted" and disputes his termination. Watch his response to the firing, below. How would you describe Williams' point of view?
Assignment Ideas
- In small groups, discuss your own view. Should Williams have been fired? Why or why not?
- How does this story relate to the discussion of unbiased language in Chapter 2? Discuss your perspective with a partner.