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PR Experts Weigh In On How Knicks Handled James Dolan-Charles Oakley Crisis

The Knicks "find themselves in the PR spotlight" following the incident involving Owner James Dolan and former player Charles Oakley, and the WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ben DiPietro for his "Crisis of the Week" feature spoke with several experts to assess "how the organization handled" the situation.
Richard Levick, who runs a self-titled communications firm, said, "The Knicks should have seized the opportunity to cultivate simpatico with their fan base. Their message should have been: ‘We know you love the Knicks and want to see the team recapture its past glory. We do, too.’ The lesson here for organizations under scrutiny is never launch a public salvo when you’re caught up in as much emotion as the Knicks were that night. They came off as vindictive, an organization trying to inflict pain, not seeking to heal.”
PR firm Six Degrees Owner Jennifer Janson said, "How does the team proceed? First, put a process in place for handling a social crisis and make sure whoever is manning the Twitter feed has the information and tools to do so. That voice is the voice of the CEO in terms of perception."
Finally, Bernstein Crisis Management President Jonathan Bernstein said, "The core message they could have used, effectively, would have been, ‘Unfortunately, we had to eject former Knicks great Charles Oakley from our game tonight after he became involved in an altercation.’ That would have demonstrated respect for the man while also making it clear his behavior was unacceptable. Let the media and public fill in any gaps in the story, it’s not the team’s job to do so" (WSJ.com, 2/21).

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