The families of the Cleveland kidnapping victims have engaged a Cleveland PR firm to handle the crush of media attention after they were dramatically freed/escaped this month.
Hennes Paynter Communications, a well-known crisis PR firm in the city, has been engaged by the law firm hired by the families, Jones Day.
Police have arrested Ariel Castro on charges of rape and kidnapping of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Jones Day law partner James Wooley was recommended by law enforcement to the families to help with the flood of attention and other legal issues. Wooley brought in Hennes Paynter. Both firms are working pro bono.
Bruce Hennes, managing partner of the PR firm, is heading the account. He told the Cleveland Jewish News that the current strategy is to give the women time and preserve the integrity of the criminal case."
"Right now, there is no other strategy," he said. "That's why the women are not speaking publicly. At this point, our only role is to compile a list of media people who are interested in interviewing them. We’re getting whatever requests there might be and aggregating all of those. At the appropriate time, the women will make their own decisions about whom they want to talk to and when."
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
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