Case Study: Gloucester Resources' Public Relations and Coal Project

This report analyzes Gloucester Resources Limited's public relations response to the controversy surrounding the Rocky Hill Coal Project. The company faced a crisis due to community and environmental concerns, leading to a court case. Gloucester Resources responded by accepting the court's verdict, aiming to restore community confidence and maintain a responsible corporate image. The report applies Grunig and Hunt’s Public Information Model to explain the company's strategy of disseminating information through various channels, including media and open forums, to address concerns about environmental and social impacts. Furthermore, the report discusses the organizational reputation theory, highlighting how the company's PR efforts were designed to protect and enhance its reputation amidst the lawsuit. The PR tactics employed were crucial in managing the crisis and preserving the company's image as environmentally and socially responsible.

Running Head: PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations
Name
Institution

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Public Relations
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
The Tactical Response.....................................................................................................................3
Tactic used in Response...............................................................................................................3
The Audience of the Response.....................................................................................................4
Reason for the Response..............................................................................................................4
Application of Theory......................................................................................................................5
Grunig and Hunt’s Public Information Model.............................................................................5
Organizational Reputation...........................................................................................................6
Conclusions......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
In the modern business environment, many organizations face crises that affect the
company’s reputation that eventually affect the profitability and productivity. Many companies
around the world have experienced diverse crises that require effective management otherwise it
will affect the reputation of the company (Gilad, Maor & Bloom, 2015). Public relations (PR)
have become an important tool towards ensuring effective management of crises by the
executives. However, inappropriate uses of PR strategies can sometimes further worsen the
problem that the organization faces. This implies that managers and seniors executives should
better understand how to use PR whenever a crisis occurs. Many organizations have been
successful in crisis management using PR that ensures that the company preserves its reputation
amid the crisis. The case Gloucester Resources Limited on the Rocky Hill Coal Project is a
public relations case that attracted attention from the media and environmentalists. The project
became a serious issue since it did not promote the interest of the society and could have caused
more harm that good (Bell-James, 2018). The project affected the reputation of the Gloucester
Resources as the community went to the court since they believed that the coal mine project
could more harms than good. The decision of the court on its refusal of the new open-cut coal
mine was celebrated by the community and environmentalists (Sheldrake, 2011).
The Tactical Response
Tactic used in Response

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Gloucester Resources Limited responded to the PR issue by accepting the verdict of the
court since the issue could have affected its reputation as breaching environmental laws and
ethics (Thomas, Bateman & Reid, 2019). The company considered the fact that the project was
needed not to be pursued since it will negatively affect its image as a responsible company when
it comes to climate change and other environmental efforts to tackle the problem. The company
in an effort to promote its PR with the community, it considered that the project could have
negatively resulted in increased emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) resulting in health
problems to the community living around the coal mine. The company supported the decisions
by court after understanding the social impacts that the project will have on the society regarding
the climate change. Therefore, in order to promote PR and manage the crisis that was in the
court, Gloucester Resources Limited supported the court decisions that made many to see the
company as responsible saving its reputation amide the crisis (Bell-James, 2018).
The Audience of the Response
The target audience for the response using the PR campaign was the community
members and environmentalists that could have been affected by the Gloucester Resources’
Rocky Hill Coal Project. The community members believed that the coal mine project could
result in many health problems because of emissions and dust from the mine. The mine could
have affected the quality of air and affect the environment resulting in climate change. Thus, the
project is believed that it could have considerable effects on climate change and lead to health
problems to the community (Bell-James, 2018).
Reason for the Response

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Gloucester Resources Limited responded to the court case by respecting the decision of
the court despite appealing the court’s decision. This was meant to restore the confidence of the
community members and convince them that it was a responsible company that considers the
social impacts of the Rocky Hill Coal Project. This was a public relations campaign that
eventually became successful because it considered the greatest interests of the population
residing near the coal mine. The company believed that the decision by the court was meant for
the greater interests of the community rather than benefiting few individuals of the company.
The public relations approach allowed the company to engage with community members and
environmentalists that eventually saved the face of the company (O'Rourke, 2010).
Application of Theory
Grunig and Hunt’s Public Information Model
Grunig and Hunt’s “4 Models” of public relations has become an important model in the
PR field. The models describe distinct strategies to PR in the context of a 130-year timeline,
which demonstrates that the PR has greatly transformed. The four models are the Press Agentry
Model; the Public Information model; the 2-way asymmetrical model; and the 2-way
symmetrical model. The application model in the case of Gloucester Resources’ lawsuit
regarding the coal mine issue is the Public Information model (Ries & Ries, 2009). The public
information model best describes the strategy, which was used by the company to engage the
community members through diverse avenues including the media that was covering the case
while in the court. The company argued that it believed that the assessment had shown that the
project will not have detrimental social impacts to the community and that the case filed by the

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community and environmentalists was not the actual position based on the assessment
undertaken by the government agencies and believed that the project could benefit the
community in terms of employment and other social benefits. The model advocates the use of
different tools to provide information to the public regarding the crisis. One-way communication
is the primary goal of the public information model. Thus, press releases brochures and web
content are mechanisms used by this model to disperse the information in managing the PR issue
in question. The public information model moves away from the manipulative tactics employed
by the press agent model and offers more precise information to the public (Potter, 2019).
In the case of Gloucester Resources Limited, the consultation with the community and
environmentalists was effective in highlighting the issues raised concerning the environmental
and social impacts of Rocky Hill Coal Project on the community. The company through open
forums and the media convinced the community that the project was not harmful as highlighted
previously by the media and that the allegations were not true based on the assessment results
(Greenberg, Knight m& Westersund, 2011). Employing the public information model,
Gloucester Resources Limited used different methods to reach the community members, such as
media to provide the correct position regarding the issue that the community members had
protested based on their concerns on climate change effects and health issues linked to the coal
mine (Kelly, 2018). The message by the company to the community was strong information that
created a new, engaging, comical platform to refute the scurrilous accusations made against the
company. The company and the community have continued to collaborate with each other in
many areas because of the good rapport that had been created. . The information that the
company sends to the media was accurate as it was well-researched that conformed to the public

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information model. The tactic that was used by Gloucester Resources Limited was an effectual
PR approach, which restored the reputation of the company as a responsible firm in matters of
environment (Neal & Mills, 2019).
Organizational Reputation
The organizational reputation is a theory that maintains that a company in crisis normally
uses PR tactics to save its reputation. Organizational reputation requires agency response to
external allegations, given their content and its evaluation to the comparative threat to its
reputation. This theory is founded on the fact that audiences might influence the agency
attention, as well as response carefully framing their claims in regard to their understanding of
the agencies’ distinct reputational capabilities. The public relations approach that was used by
Gloucester Resources Limited was effective in dispelling the issues that the company was
grappling with as it was seen as irresponsible company in matters of the environmental and
health concerns to the community. The strategy of convincing the community members and the
environmentalists was designed to promote and maintain the reputation of the firm. This was an
effort of the company to promote and save the organizational reputation. By declaring that their
activities will not affect the community and it was demonstrating that it was a responsible
company determined to promote the social welfare of the community and minimize
environmental effects due to climate change (Gilad, Maor & Bloom, 2015).
Therefore, the PR team was effective in disseminating information that was effective in
saving the company’s reputation that was likely to be affected by the lawsuit that was filed
against by the company regarding the social impacts of the coal mine. In the wake of the lawsuit,
the company was determined to save its reputation by standing strong and took on their critics by

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remaining true to who they are (Murinska-Gaile, 2015). The company was determined to prove
to the court that the assessment reports on the coal mine had signaled the planning of the Rocky
Hill Coal Project.
Conclusions
The PR tactic that was employed by the public relations specialists at Gloucester
Resources Limited was effective in preserving and promoting the reputation of the company that
had been affected by the case in court taken by the community. The public relations team in the
company provided the facts regarding the Rocky Hill Coal Project and this was crucial in the
management of the crisis that could have considerable affect the image of the company as
irresponsible company. Founded on the public information mode, the firm designed messages to
the public through primary and secondary research to provide the public with accurate
information based on the environmental assessment reports. The PR team was able to utilize
their primary research to clarify the social impacts of the project (Steele, 2019).

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References
Bell-James, J. (2018). Landmark Rocky Hill ruling could pave the way for more courts to choose
climate over coal. The Conversation. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from
https://theconversation.com/landmark-rocky-hill-ruling-could-pave-the-way-for-more-
courts-to-choose-climate-over-coal-111533.
Gilad, S., Maor, M. & Bloom, B.P. (2015). Organizational Reputation, the Content of Public
Allegations, and Regulatory Communication. Journal of Public Administration Research
and Theory. 25(2):451-478.
Greenberg, J., Knight, G., & Westersund, E. (2011). Spinning climate change: Corporate and
NGO public relations strategies in Canada and the United States. International
Communication Gazette, 73(1/2), 65–82.
Kelly, M. (2018). Land and Environment Court reserves its judgement in the Rocky Hill coal
mine case. The Herald. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from
https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5630931/court-reserves-judgement-in-rocky-hill-
coal-mine-case/.
Murinska-Gaile, S. (2015). The Role of Public Relations Practices in the Latgale Region Local
Companies. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference of Daugavpils
University / Daugavpils Universitates Starptautiskas Zinatniskas Konferences Materiali,
(57), 37–47.

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Neal, T. & Mills, Z. (2019). Australia: Climate change, greenhouse gas contributions and the
case of the Rocky Hill coal mine. Mondaq. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/786430/Clean+Air+Pollution/Climate+change+gree
nhouse+gas+contributions+and+the+case+of+the+Rocky+Hill+coal+mine.
O'Rourke, J. S. (2010). Management communication: A case-analysis approach. Upper Saddle
River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Potter, B. (2019). Landmark decision blocks Gloucester Resources coal mine in NSW. Financial
Review. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from https://www.afr.com/news/landmark-decision-
blocks-gloucester-resources-coal-mine-in-nsw-20190208-h1b0bo.
Ries, A., & Ries, L. (2009). The fall of advertising and the rise of PR. New York : HarperCollins
e-books.
Sheldrake, P. (2011). The business of influence: Reframing marketing and PR for the digital age.
Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley.
Steele, M. (2019). Considering the impacts of coal mining on climate change - Lessons from
Gloucester Resources case. Bicksteele. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from
https://www.bicksteele.com.au/news/2019/2/18/considering-the-impacts-of-coal-mining-
on-climate-change-lessons-from-gloucester-resources-case.
Thomas, N., Bateman, B. & Reid, J. (2019). After the (coal) dust settles – Rocky Hill case and
social impacts. Claytonutz.com. Retrieved May 8, 2019 from

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https://www.claytonutz.com/knowledge/2019/march/after-the-coal-dust-settles-rocky-
hill-case-and-social-impacts.