The Sago Mine Disaster: A Study In Poorly Executed Public Relations

First and foremost. my condolences go out to all the families who lost someone in the Sago Mine disaster. To add insult to injury it seems to me that everyone surrounding this tragedy other than the family members affected has handled the press coverage very poorly.

First there were the unconfirmed reports of 12 survivors, and then we learned it was just a single survivor. And then without any confirmation, we have the families being contacted and being told that same information only to find out later that it was false.

And then we have reports saying the single survivor didn't suffer brain damage, and now we find out that he might have brain damage.

I just don't know, it seems like this whole tragedy has resulted in a lot of extended agony for the families involved, mostly due to statements going out before they should.