One of the oddities about post-publication crisis PR is that it is difficult to measure its effectiveness – unless it includes preventing the re-publication of the offending material; something which is most effectively done by a PR lawyer.

When it comes to pre-publication crisis PR, there is a straightforward metric; if publication of false and damaging material is prevented, that is 100% success. Similarly, if by the deployment of the appropriate regulatory and legal tools, half of the threatened allegations are prevented, that is a 50% success.

While I have acted for a PR agency to protect it against adverse media comment I have not yet acted against one. I very nearly did so, however, because presented with an eminently avoidable PR crisis for a blue-chip education establishment client, rather than deploying the relevant regulatory and legal tools available to prevent the publication of the damaging material, the PR agency merely attempted, with scant success, to ameliorate the consequential accumulating reputation damage.

Their client was a premiere league public school, and a problem had arisen during a foreign trip during which one of the pupils fell foul of the local authorities. This was being gleefully reported by one of the Fleet Street titles, elite schools being a particular favourite of Fleet Street, and great reputation damage was being done.

Unfortunately, too late, I was contacted to see what could be done. By that time the horse was out of the stable door and was disappearing over the horizon. I explained, however, to the client that the answer to this problem lay in the IPSO Code's protection given to children while they are at school, and should anything like that happen in the future, I could step in to compel the newspaper to comply with its IPSO obligations.

Understandably, the school was angry that their PR agency had not done just that, and I was asked to advise whether the school should sue the agency for negligence. I advised that the benefit of such an action would be limited, and not warrant the expense. It is, however, a sobering reminder to all those who do PR of the importance of providing an effective service for the client using all the means available.

This stark truth about crisis PR is attributed to Winston Churchill: "A lie travels around the globe while truth is putting on its shoes". Some 100 years after the phrase was coined, it is infinitely more true now than it was then. The sad reality of the electronic age is that a PR crisis - if it is allowed to happen - creates an indelible stain on the company and/or individual at issue; however many resources that you invest in trying to erase it.

Not only is it likely to be picked up and repeated by other elements of the media, but if anything unfortunate occurs to the reputationally damaged company and/or individual, then this past allegation of failure will be republished, and a body of adverse material will accumulate online.

Despite this, you can attend a day-long crisis PR conference at significant expense where the speaker line-up lacks anyone who furnishes you ways of preventing PR crises from occurring. By contrast, I have, for some 25 years, presented a free seminar on how to do just that, details of which I will gladly send you on request. Or you can read my book Bloomsbury title Reputation Matters (available on Amazon).