The biggest threat to your reputation is not the media -- it’s your own employees.
When companies panic about reputation, they instinctively point fingers outward. “It’s the media!” “It’s that nasty journalist!” “It’s social media trolls!” Wrong target. The media doesn’t have to invent your dirty laundry. Nine times out of ten, it’s your own people airing it out for the world to see. Disgruntled employees. Anonymous leaks. Screenshots of “internal-only” emails dropped on X. Glassdoor reviews that read like exposés. Culture rot that seeps into customer service calls. This is the stuff that tanks a reputation faster than any investigative report. Why? Because it feels authentic. It’s coming from the inside, not an “outsider with an agenda.” And the public eats that up. “If your employees don’t trust you, no external PR wizardry can save you.” Here’s the brutal truth: you can polish press statements all day long, but if your culture is toxic, employees will torch your credibility in seconds. The irony? Brands spend millions on media monitoring and crisis playbook...