A common theme I've been striking for a few years is the impact transparency has on the world we live in. It's harder to hide the truth than ever before in an era of videos on YouTube and people with cell phone cameras and access to the web, and the availability of reliable search engines that can turn up just what people said lo those many years ago. Today, yet another example, this time courtesy of Harvey Araton at the NYT, writing about the New England Patriots cheating. In this case, both the cheating coach and the the commissioner who hopes to bury the problem are living in an era where they thought information in digital form could be hidden/destroyed. The arrival of more tapes shows that's not the case.
This is also a good example of crisis communication gone wrong. The problem could've been solved last year with swift and final action and a full airing of facts. Instead, the NFL destroyed tapes, played secret and said, essentially, "trust us." That is not a winning strategy.
So instead of a quickly contained bad story, they had a year of bad press, culminating in controversy around the SuperBowl, the most important event of the year. And here they are again -- dealing with the problem one more time. Hint to the NFL: own the news, disclose the information, take action and move on.