By Stephanie Fierman
Larry King held a two-hour telethon on June 21 to raise funds for those impacted by the BP oil spill titled “Disaster in the Gulf: How You Can Help.”
Am I the only one who doesn’t quite understand this?
It seems uncontested that the spill was caused by a commercial entity that everyone agrees is responsible; that the U.S. government has vowed to hold said entity to its promise of paying for the clean-up and for losses incurred by all affected parties; and BP itself has agreed to do same.
Now I’m not making any claims as to whether BP will or won’t actually do this (or that its version of reimbursement would be agreeable), but this telethon wasn’t saying “We know BP’s 100% responsible, but we don’t believe it’ll come through so we’re doing this just in case.” It was just your regular old telethon to raise money.
So why? Why are we raising money? Why are television watchers being prodded by their favorite celebrities to donate?
Larry King said that “the point of this effort is to get immediate relief to the people and wildlife who (sic) are in urgent need,” and that “the telethon’s proceeds go directly to relief organizations.”
OK, fair enough. As Mr. King noted when you are out of work you don’t need help tomorrow, you need help today. But here’s the Reputational rub, if you will. Isn’t BP tasked with providing “immediate relief?” Doesn’t BP need (and want) to find ways to help the people thrown out of work. One worries for our global business trustscape when a major company is cast in the same light as, well, a hurricane.
I also worry that, in a perverse way, that this kind of giving makes us immune – numb – to disaster and tragedy. Something happens? No need to look too closely: let’s just raise money. Let’s get a bunch of stars to look soulfully into the camera and ask for cash, while we view a dying, oil-blackened bird in split screen. Haiti six months later is still a major scale human disaster, though the media lens and the public have moved on.
And I worry that this makes Americans feel as though we’re doing something – we sent in our $20 bucks, therefore we are good people who care and we can move on. But can we? Are we doing any of the heavy lifting that could actually help managers improve risk management to avoid future outcomes, or to really help the people impacted recover? What does it mean when individuals appear to be picking up the slack for a global corporation?
And I worry, too, about the effect on our collective sense of organizational responsibility. How does this phenomenon impact a company’s commitment to building trust in the marketplace?
It’s easy to pound one’s chest and demand that “those responsible” do more, but I would suggest that, by our own actions, the public may be empowering these same responsible parties to do less. There’s no guidebook that tells an organization exactly what reputable and trustworthy behavior is – society does that. Stakeholders – like you, me and Larry King – do that.
Where do we want to set the bar? In the midst of a crisis as big, bad and complex as the Gulf, sometimes it’s hard to tell where the bar even is. That said, on one thing, at least, everyone agrees. Help is needed in the Gulf.
