Urgent Advice Needed: Strategies on dealing with possible extortion by press trip participant?

Hi everyone! On a recent press trip to Argentina, everything was going extremely well until, the morning one blogger was due to leave, he reports a robbery from his room. There was no sign of breaking and entering, and security records show no one used a card key to get in besides him. The hotel has offered to reimburse him the actual cost of missing equipment.

The problem is that this person has been tweeting and Facebooking up a storm, and now he's upped the ante, demanding thousands of dollars because he claims he had years worth of work on that drive -- a backup drive, mind you. I think it's clear that doesn't cough up more "compensation," this campaign of slander will only escalate - and he does have a fair number of followers/readers.

It certainly underscores the danger of dealing with bloggers who have not been steeped in traditional journalistic ethics. I'm just curious, has anyone ever come across this type of thing, and if so, how did you deal with it?

Max

Replies

Robert Haru Fisher September 21, 2011 at 4:29am

The US and many other governments refuse to pay ransom when someone is kidnapped and held to ransom. You should follow their example and not pay off this character. Then ignore him. He should have had insurance for his equipment, anyhow. And he should have backed up his "years of work" on drives at home.
Elyse Glickman September 18, 2011 at 4:02am

Try to see if you know of other people in the business who have worked with him or if he has a bad rap for causing trouble on the trip. I unfortunately dealt with a "friend" who not only nearly put me out of business last year by planting a Gawker item about me to ruin my relationships, but has maneuvered her way on to FAM trips as a blogger, very chummy with the publicists, only to turn down writers with legit press credentials such as myself and others I know about. This person is falling out of favor because people caught on to her, because I found like-minded people through the grapevine who reported similar strange behavior patterns she's exhibited at other trips.
Jacquie Whitt September 18, 2011 at 3:00am

If his claim is legitimate, he (or the hotel) should have filed a police report to document the crime and the police would have conducted an investigation. Probably not what the hotel wanted, but this is an example of what happens when you try to keep things quiet.

If he is using the threat of a negative blog as leverage to force the hotel to compensate him for his losses, I would report that to the police. I would also go back through the entire record of his blog and anywhere else he has written publicly, to see if he has ever written anything negative about other establishments. Perhaps he has done this before? If he uses his blog to slander the hotel, he is taking a risk if his claims are not valid. His blog posts should be monitored.

If he really is extorting money, what he is doing could be considered a crime. The events leading up to this point should be documented by you (or the hotel) in case it ends up in court.

(this is only my opinion) I would call his bluff and I would tell him all future payments are delayed because the case is being investigated. I would keep it vague (you don't have to say who is investigating - it could be you!) and let him hang for a while. He might get tired of waiting and drift away.

Meanwhile, monitor the blog. If it gets ugly, turn everything over the the authorities. The goal is to expose him.

Now for my disclaimer! This info is my opinion only and should not be taken as legal advice. I am not responsible for the outcome or further losses experienced by you, the hotel or agents acting on your behalf.

Good Luck! Let us know how the story ends. We all like a good story!

PR/Marketing Forum

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