To the Point

Enron, Andersen and Damage Control

Enron, Andersen, Global Crossing and Bill Clinton. All are, or have been, public relations disasters in need of damage control. Restricted to a few specialty firms just a decade ago, crisis management has experienced explosive growth and is now a full-fledged profession that is studied in business school. Is it better to come clean at the outset or keep one's mouth shut and wait for trouble to go away? We hear about the importance of "likability" and trust, and about conflicting strategies to improve one's image at the cost of going to jail. We look at damage control and the growing profession of crisis management with Washington spinmeisters Eric Dezenhall and Robert Barnett, and consumer watchdogs Sheldon Rampton and Ed Mierzwinski. Newsmaker: Surveillance City, Washington DC Next time you visit Washington and go up the Capitol Steps, or just have a picnic on the Washington Mall, you may be watched. It won't just be the cop on the street, but the FBI, Secret Service and other agencies with access to what's becoming America's most extensive video surveillance system. Jess Bravin, of The Wall Street Journal, previews the futuristic Joint Operation Command Center. Reporter's Notebook: The Chocolate Slave Trade Some 43 percent of the cocoa beans that go into America's chocolate come from Africa's Ivory Coast. Last summer, when the Knight Ridder chain reported that African cocoa farmers were using the labor of child slaves, a "surprised" chocolate industry promised to take responsibility. Sudarshan Raghavan, Nairobi bureau chief for Knight Ridder, has more on the industry's promise abolish child slavery.