Because we've had extensive experience in major national newsrooms we view news developments in a somewhat different manner than many communications consultants; we see the news through the same lens as working journalists.

Our blog provides analysis of how recent news developments were handled or mishandled by the principal actors and their advisers. Who handled the press attention well? Who did not? How might they have fared better?

We will bestow the M.E. Communications Partners WMD (Worst Media Debacle) award in timely fashion to those we regard as the worst performers.

JetBlue has set a new standard for confronting a disastrous corporate problem, a crisis that threatened its hard-won reputation. And it set that standard by moving with impressive imagination and speed to salvage the airline's reputation.

When the Valentine's Day ice storm disrupted the airline's East Coast operations and the impact of stranding passengers on planes that had left terminals but were unable to take off for hours became clear, CEO David Neeleman seemed to grasp that he and he alone had to take responsibility for the debacle. He became the public face as his company scrambled to limit the damage to their most precious asset, their reputation.

Neeleman was everywhere

At a time when the impact of any one media outlet has been diluted Neeleman appeared quickly in newspapers, television, radio and the web. He was everywhere starting with "Fresh Air” on NPR where he took on an outraged caller and turned him into an ally. And he did it live on a national broadcast with no safety net.

He apologized in full page ads in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and regional newspapers even as they were lambasting him in their news pages. He posted an abject apology on YouTube, he even went on the Late Show and traded quips with David Letterman. But he also communicated in a personal way with his customers by email.

Message: "We're sorry."

His message was the same everywhere, "We did a terrible job of coping with a bad weather situation. We didn't deliver the service our customers expect of us and we're sorry."

Then he went a step further; as the size of the disaster became apparent and several days of cancelled flights followed the initial weather-related problem Neeleman promised he would deliver a customers bill of rights. And deliver he did. By the time the next weather problem hit JetBlue February 25-26 the airline reacted more swiftly and more humanely, the bill of rights was in place and the airline carried it out.

The result was Neeleman won public credit for fulfilling the promises he had made and it became clear by mid-week that several significant steps had been taken on the long road JetBlue will have to travel to fully recover its reputation.

We see the following lessons in Neeleman's response:

• It's imperative that a company takes responsibility for its failures even when, as in this case, the company had no control over the weather, the factor that triggered the crisis.
• The CEO came forward immediately and took responsibility for the problem. He didn't hide behind lawyers or force lower ranking executives to shoulder the blame, he stood tall and said, "Blame me."
• He did what he said he would do and he did it when he said he would do it. He kept the promises he made.
• He used every possible means of communication to get his message out, both old style mainstream media and web-based new media.

Will all this cost a lot of money? Yes, of course it will, but if all of this effort saves JetBlue’s reputation – and the early returns are encouraging – the cost is low compared to the alternative.