Crisis Communications: How to lose the media

Shooting stars fall: The most beloved media figures find the press can go fickle.

Historically, the media and the public rally behind a President during a time of war or national emergency and President Obama normally gets favorable coverage from the mainstream media. The opposite has been the case in the week since terrorists launched six simultaneous attacks on Paris.

A new NBC Poll shows 74 percent of Americans believe we are losing the War against ISIS (while the president insists we are winning) and another 65 percent support sending ground troops, a policy Obama has opposed.

Tone and attitude toward the press impacted both of those numbers, which could serve as classic lessons in any course on crisis communications.

10 red flags CEOs must avoid in crisis communications

Here are 10 red flags every CEO can learn from as well as other crisis communications mistakes that are always sure to rile reporters:

1. Petulance.

Petulance. A Washington Post editorial called the president petulant (childishly sulky or bad temped) for insisting his critics had offered “no concrete alternatives’’ for action in Syria other than…