This is very bad news for Mr. and Ms. Morrison, both personally and professionally.
I can't speak for the personal side, but I can assure you that Mr. Morrison has just as surely put a stranglehold on his once promising career as he allegedly did to his spouse's neck. And, I'll bet that Mrs. Morrison will be forever identified as 'the former broadcaster and domestic violence victim.'
CBS has already washed its hands of both husband and wife, refusing to comment “...because this is a personal matter.”
Reporters are hired to cover the news, not to create it. And, in a similar vein, public relations professionals are hired to represent their client's or company's product or service.
When the spotlight is shined on either reporters or publicists, it typically inflicts a major blow to the individual involved. In our field, some of the more high-profile examples have included:
- A Ketchum PR team member who Tweeted derogatory remarks about Memphis during a FedEx all-hands meeting in, you guessed it, Memphis.
- A GCI (now part of Cohn & Wolfe) intern publicly attacking blogger Jeff Jarvis and his less-than-positive review of a GCI client's product.
- Edelman's less-than-transparent work on behalf of Wal-Mart.
All three incidents did a number on the individual's career and elicited a public apology from the PR firm.
The Morrison family is in full crisis management mode as we speak. The strangling spouses issued a statement through their lawyer, calling the charges “…grossly exaggerated.” Yeah, sure. Check out this quote from the local Darien, Connecticut, police department: “…Morrison had become increasingly belligerent toward his wife during the course of the evening, culminating in his choking her by the neck with both hands.” The cops also observed 'red marks' on Ms. Morrison's neck that were “consistent with being choked.”
Don't be surprised if the battling Morrisons find themselves black listed from future gigs in journalism. That said, they'd be eminently qualified to open a crisis management firm that specializes in domestic violence cases.
