Ironically Rubenstein's crisis-response plan, which aims to promote a coordinated reaction to crises from local leaders, wasn't ready at the time of the murder. The firm's draft proposal about how to influence press coverage following a high-profile crime or other disaster is now being polished by Villafa*a prior to being submitted to local government agencies for their approval. The still-tentative plan would set up a communications network following an incident and bring together a small group of community leaders A from law enforcement, government, the Chamber of Commerce, and the tourism industry A to plan a "public relations strategy." This Crisis Communications Team, as it's now called, would also designate media spokespeople to address different elements of the story, from assessing a tourist murder's impact on tourism to providing accurate information about the crime itself. The central impetus seems to be to make sure there won't be, as Villafa*a puts it, "too many voices" addressing the subject A people who might offer opinions, often uninformed, that wouldn't play so well in the media.
Villafa*a doesn't see this as manipulation of the press because it won't limit what journalists report; the plan would just make things more convenient for reporters, he says, even bringing together all the relevant bigwigs in one place to answer questions. Yet the proposed response scenario, with the prominent advisory role played by Villafa*a and Zarr, offers numerous opportunities to downplay unpleasant facts and to influence media coverage through the controlled release of information and quotations from civic leaders.
The plan didn't seem to be needed when that poor Guatemalan was killed, but the next slaying could well be different. Some tourism executives are nervous about the possibility of poorly coordinated reactions and hostile media assaults if the plan isn't ready in time for the next ugly crime. "This was a trial run of what could happen A and everyone reacted as they usually do," said one tourism professional. "The press already had the story for hours before [political and police] higher-ups were notified."
It seems, in fact, that the edifice of the new Miami that the publicists and admen are building is far more fragile than anyone would care to admit. The image of a resurgent, crime-fighting Miami, ready for Pow Wow and the years ahead, has been constructed largely with press releases and charming pictures of fun in the sun. It is a house of paper that might still be blown away by the wrong bullet aimed at the wrong person, and there's no room in the Miami Vacation Equation for that.
