Who you gonna trust ?

People believe what the media tells them. They don't believe what companies tell them, as evidenced by opinion research.

  Doctors - 92%
Academics/Teachers - 80-88%
BBC / ITN journalists - 81%
Clergymen/priests - 71-74%
Judges - 68-80%
Broadcast journalists - 65%
Police - 60-65%
UN officials - 54%
Civil Servants - 44-48%
Mid market tabloid journalists - 38%
NHS hospital managers - 36%
Trade Union leaders - 32-38%
Government ministers - 13-25%
People who run large companies - 20-25%
Red top tabloid journalists - 14-19%
Sources : YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph, March 2003 and Ipsos MORI poll September 2009

So in a crisis, you're starting with a disadvantage. Saying nothing is almost never an option - if you say "no comment" then around three quarters of the population will believe you're guilty of whatever you are accused.

But preparation can help, as the Emergency section seeks to demonstrate.