What Imus, Virginia Tech, and Alberto Gonzales Have in Common

You gotta feel bad for Steve Capus. What an April! The NBC News president had to deal with Don Imus and now the anger of Virginia Tech families over his network's airing of that lunatic video and photos sent by the shooter between his killing rampages. For corporate crisis managers, it's worth noting the similarities in both events: Think first about those affected by the controversy. If Imus had apologized quickly and sincerely to the Rutgers's women's basketball team and gotten a meeting with them he might have gotten the absolution that they gave him only after he was dumped by NBC and CBS. Instead, he phoned in his apology--offering it while wearing a Stetson and shades and reading it off a script with like it was a weather report. And then he groveled--half heartedly--to Al Sharpton, fumbling that one to with his infamous reference on Sharpton's radio show to "you people." I wasn't at 30 Rock but I bet in all the NBC deliberations yesterday they worried more about pissing off law enforcement than about pissing off the Virginia Tech community. (Last night, when they offered up the pics they told viewers about how they'd worked with law enforcement.)

Poor Capus got undercut by the Virginia State police which at first gave the green light to airing some of the videos and photos and then said that they regretted how NBC handled it. Ouch.

By the way, I don't know what I would have done with those photos and videos. Probably the same thing as NBC and it's not entirely clear to me if the Virginia Tech community should have veto rights over what America sees, no matter how raw the feelings. But it's a pretty good guess that NBC didn't anticipate the outrage. Coming on the same date as Alessandra Stanley's piece applauding ABC's coverage of the massacre and calling Brian Williams cloying, that's gotta hurt. It's too bad because Capus seems like a very honorable guy--one who, I suspect on March 31, had no idea he'd be getting so much air time in April.

Couldn't Alberto Gonzales have learned the same lesson by reaching out to the fired U.S. Attorneys? Probably not. After all, he canned them and has had a mouth full of marbles every time he's tried to explain his role in their dismissal. Still, seeking their absolution, even if he didn't get it, would have helped his role in all of this.