James E. Lukaszewski
James E. Lukaszewski is the founder and head of The Lukaszewski Group, a PR firm based in New York state.
Contents
Books by Lukaszewski
- James Lukaszewski, Influencing Public Attitudes: Strategies That Reduce the Media's Power, Issue Action Publications, November 1992. ISBN 0913869031
- War Stories and Crisis Communication Strategies, An Anthology;
- Crisis Communication Planning Strategies, A Workbook;
- Media Relations During Emergencies, A Guide.
- Crisis Communication Plan Components and Models: Crisis Communication Management Readiness
Articles by Lukaszewski
- James E. Lukaszewski, "The Media and the Terrorist: A Dance of Death," Executive Speeches, June 1987 (Revised 1998).
Quotes by Lukaszewski
Advice on Labor Relations
In August 2006, James Lukaszewski offered advice to PR Week readers wondering how "to reduce the level of acrimony, improve communications, and facilitate a more pleasant outcome" in labor disputes. He said, "The question to ask is, 'Are you a force for yesterday or a force for a better tomorrow?' The choice is yours. ... If given the chance, your employees will choose happiness and candor over anger, fear of the unknown, and the regimentation third-party membership requires." [1]
In addition to the union-busting rhetoric, Lukaszewski suggested management "eliminate all negative words. ... They cause misunderstanding and unanswerable questions and you'll have to eat every one of them sometime soon. Be constructive rather than critical. Criticism is negative, confusing, and starts fights." [2]
Not Too Fond of Journalists
The February 28, 2001, issue of Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter quotes from a Lukaszewski mailing, as evidence of "efforts by some PR pros to marginalize or even demonize the media": [3]
- "Journalism today is relentlessly competitive, amoral, aggressive and negative. Survey after survey demonstrates the public's belief that reporters use deception and practice reckless reputation destruction."
Advice on Risk Communications
In a September 1992 article prompted by the alar apple scare, the Holmes Report wrote: [4]
- Jim Lukaszewski argues that no amount of data will be persuasive in an argument about risk because "people don't care about facts and data, especially if they don't support their emotional positions." People want to know how a decision affects their health and safety, their property values, their pride in their community, their peace of mind.
- "Sadly, for the engineer and the technician, emotional concepts that don't deal with facts, data, science or proof are nearly impossible to comprehend," Lukaszewski says. "The lesson is if you want to communicate effectively, you can't hide behind performance measures and factoids like 'It's only one part per quadrillion' or 'There's more cyanide in a flower.' You have to deal with real gut-level stuff."
