NASA After Challenger: Restoring An Image

Please download and read the following case study and respond to my discussion post.

An aspect of this case study I would like to discuss with all of you is National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s public relations effort following the explosion of the Challenger. After the Apollo 13 crisis in 1971, we read that news organizations were impressed with NASA’s crisis communication efforts, and they were even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize! Although the positive feedback continued for 15 years, this response was not the case following NASA’s communication practices over the Challenger explosion. I believe NASA’s public relations succeeding the Challenger disaster is considered an example of crisis communication failure. 

According to the text, Ongoing Crisis Communication by W. Timothy Coombs, common negative effects from crises include a decrease in revenue, cutbacks and/or layoff. Loss of corporate reputation, increased media scrutiny, increased government scrutiny, decreased share price, and increased social media discussions. When NASA failed to make a statement directly after the event occurred, they faced major scrutiny from both the media and the government. Waiting nearly five hours to respond was one of many mistakes they made that led to the crisis communication failure. Another mistake I found was not providing sufficient information when they spoke out about the disaster. We learned that in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster, NASA officials reported that they didn’t have evidence on what caused the explosion. I believe if NASA officials hadn’t distanced themselves from the media and presented a constant flow of information from the beginning they would not have had as many complaints from the media. 

With that being said, I want to ask whether you all agree with my opinion that if NASA had practiced what they learned following Apollo 13, these mistakes would have never occurred. I would also like to ask what other mistakes you found in NASA’s public relations efforts, and what about their response made it an example of crisis communication failure?