The Speed of Crisis in the Digital Age

Editor's note: The following opinion article is the first in a three-part series by guest columnist Richard S. Levick, the president and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications, the world's largest crisis communications firm. Levick is the co-author of 'Stop the Presses: The Crisis & Litigation PR Desk Reference' and writes for bulletproofblog.com. Click here to read Part 2 and here to read Part 3. He welcomes your comments here.

On the morning of Monday, Sept. 8, 2008, executives at United Airlines, a unit of UAL(UAUA Quote), began their week like any other. Two years had passed since they successfully brought one of America's most storied airlines back from bankruptcy. More than 3,200 flights to 200 global destinations were scheduled for the day, and United's 55,000 employees were on the job. As the opening bell sounded on Wall Street, shares of UAL were trading at a steady $12 per share.

Within hours, however, the company's entire future was at risk. UAL shares plummeted so fast that authorities suspended trading in them as investigators tried to understand what was happening to this purported "safe bet." By day's end, Corporate America would learn a valuable lesson about how the online revolution can dramatically affect any brand, product, or company in only a matter of minutes.

Earlier that morning, a Chicago Tribune report detailing United's 2002 bankruptcy filing was accidentally reposted to the Florida Sun Sentinel's Web site with no indication that the story originally ran six years earlier. Within minutes, a Web searcher for Income Securities Advisors Inc. (ISA) in Miami Lakes, Fla. performed a routine Google search for the terms "bankruptcy" and "2008." When the ISA team came across the report on the Sun Sentinel's Web site, it appeared to be Web exclusive on breaking financial news that had yet to reach the wires.

At 10:43 a.m., ISA posted a summary of the "story" to the Bloomberg blog, which often distributes news from third-party providers. Five minutes later, UAL's share price dropped by more than half, eventually collapsing to less than $3 a share before authorities were forced to freeze trading at 11:07 a.m. United corrected the mistaken report at 12:30 p.m., but by then the damage was done.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting