Communicating Redemption: The Larry Benjamin Interview

Person

The person selected for this interview was Larry Benjamin, who works as the Communication Coordinator for the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, PA. Mazzoni Center is the largest health care service provider within the Philadelphia region focusing specifically of the LGBTQ communities. The main rationale behind the selection of Larry Benjamin for this interview reflected on the need to gather information on one of the notable scandals that rocked Mazzoni Center in 2017 (Schmit, 2017). In April 2017, former employees and patients accused the medical director at Mazzoni Center, Dr. Robert Winn, of sexual misconduct while at the institution (McDonald, 2017). That created the need for having to engage in an interview with Larry Benjamin to help understand his perspective on the matter. Additionally, the interview sought to evaluate key challenges that communication coordinators encounter when dealing with such scandals.

Information

The main strategy that will help in information gathering during the course of this interview is development of a set of questions that would act as a guideline for the interview. The questions will be arranged in a specific order with an aim of ensuring that the interviewee, Larry Benjamin, connects to the expectations of the interview. On the other hand, it is important to take note of the fact that it would be essential to create a guideline for the interviewee with regard to his position when answering the questions. In cases where interviews get off track, the key challenge arises from lack of a guideline within which the interviewee would use when responding to the questions. To help prevent such occurrences, it would be essential to create a guideline that seeks to ensure that the interviewee maintains a positive connection to the expectations of the interview.

Questions

The following is a list of 10 questions developed to act as a guideline for the interview, as well as, ensure effective collection of information from the interviewee:

For years you’ve been contributory in the corporate market, what implemented you to switch gears into the nonprofit sector?

When did you start working for the Mazzoni Center and what initially piqued your interest about the organization?

Last April, Mazzoni was plagued with allegations involving sexual misconduct that led to the resignations of several key members including Medical Director Robert Winn and CEO NuritShein. Most professionals would have avoided any relation with an institution whose name was sullied amongst the very community they aim to serve. As a veteran of communications, was there anything about Mazzoni and the scandal that you specifically wanted to take to task?

As a Director of Communications, how do you engage the public with the Mazzoni brand?

How is social media and brand awareness applied to your work as Mazzoni continues to build a connection with their patients and the public?

You are also an accomplished novelist, how do utilize the art of storytelling when it comes to reinforcing brand strategy and company narrative?

Since the ousting of CEO NuritShein, has there been any barriers in re-establishing Mazzoni’s image with Philly’s LGBTQ community?

What are you, as Director of Communications, currently doing to restore the relationship with the public and where is the outreach being focused?

Could you share the important values behind Mazzoni’s road to redemption and how the organization has learned from past errors?

Lastly, is there any advice you would give other local organizations that may face the next big scandal?

Order

The questions presented in the previous section have been arranged in a specific order, which was important to consider as part of the interview process. The main rationale used for the order in the previous section revolves around the fact that the interview seeks to progress from a rather personal approach to a more professional approach. As can be seen from the first question, the key element of focus in this question is rather personal with the other questions focusing more on the issue of Mazzoni Center, which is where he is currently working. The questions on Mazzoni Center seek to establish his position, as the Director of Communications, on the scandal that impacted the health facility. As the questions close to an end, the focus shifts towards creating a general approach to allowing the interviewee to give advice to other organizations that would face similar scandals.

Responses

The following are the responses from the interviewee, Larry Benjamin, to the questions indicated under the questions section:

I got tired of being the only one -whatever that “one” was. There is a breathtaking lack of diversity in corporate America. I was tired of being the only gay guy, the only black guy.

I started at the end of November, right after Thanksgiving. I was interested in the organization because I realized I could add value and help turn around an agency.

Again I admired their ability to keep delivering on their commitment and mission; I wanted to tell that story, to shift the focus from what was to what is. I don’t much care what others think so their sullied reputation not really a factor in my decision to join the agency.

We use social media to share content and information to reach our younger stakeholders who are already using social media as a source of information and who are comfortable engaging with us there.

Social media allows us to share that information where our stakeholders work and play.

I apply the same principles to my work here as to writing a novel: decide what story you are telling and how you are telling it, then figure out who you are telling it to .

People can be remarkably forgiving if you can show you’ve learned from your mistakes, are actively recovering and putting the past where it belongs—in the past.

Well, I’ve only been here two months but we’re going to be working with the press—actively engaging with them to show them how we’ve changed and how we are continuing to be laser-focused on our mission and the work we do.

A commitment to the agency’s mission, and a commitment to make real change

Face it head on. Be honest. Lean into it and make real change.

One key aspect to during the interview was that Larry advanced the need for eye contact, as he focused more on eye contact while giving his responses. That not only helped in boosting confidence in the responses he gave but also sought to create some form of connection to the nature of responses. The long-term effect that this had on the interview was that it helped in boosting the interviewer’s desire to engage with Larry further as part of the interview.

Developing the Article

Outline

Organization: Mazzoni Center

Newsworthy story from the interview: Sexual misconduct scandal at the institution attributed to reports by former employees and patients accusing medical director Dr. Robert Winn (Owens, 2017).

Credibility: Confirmation of the scandal by the Director of Communications at the health facility with supporting quotes from the interview. The interview conducted with Larry Benjamin helped in boosting credibility of this particular story, as he sought to support some of the claims associated with sexual misconduct at the institution.

Ethics: The story touched on a key issue within Mazzoni Center, which is a non-profit organization intended to act as source of refuge for Philly’s LGBTQ community, which is facing increased discrimination from the non-LGBTQ community (Colleta, 2017).

Key Points

The first key point revolves around understanding the happenings at Mazzoni Center with regard to the accusation of sexual misconduct touching on the medical director Dr. Robert Winn. The article would need to expound on this issue as part of providing readers with background information on the happenings at the institution. The second key point revolves around trying to understand what Mazzoni Center is doing to boost its reputation affected by this particular scandal. In this point, the focus is understanding some of the key measures that the Director of Communication has put in place in dealing with the poor image of the organization. The third key point is trying to understand whether the organization is still well positioned to offer expected quality of health services to Philly’s LGBTQ community regardless of the ousting of the CEO Nurit Shein.

Nut Graph

Mazzoni Center, which is one of the leading non-profit health care organization offering health services to Philly’s LGBTQ community, is facing a major challenge with regard to its reputation attributed to accusations of sexual misconduct at the organization (Melamed, 2017). The sexual misconduct claimed by former employees and patients were directed at medical director Dr. Robert Winn. The aftermath of the claims was the resignation of Dr. Winn, along with CEO Nurit Shein and Board President Jimmy Ruiz (Amorosi, 2017). The long-term effect of this scandal was that it had a major impact on the image of the facility within Philadelphia regardless of its consideration as one of the respected health facilities. Mazzoni Center is working hard, through engagements with the public, to restore its image, as well as, ensure that it maintains its approach towards delivering quality health services to the LGBTQ community (White, 2017).

Article

In April 2017, a group of former employees and patients at Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, PA came forward with claims of sexual misconduct touching on one of the senior employees at the center. The former employees and patients claimed that the medical director Dr. Robert Winn engaged in different forms of sexual misconduct. Mazzoni Center is the largest health care service provider dealing with the LGBTQ communities within Philadelphia, PA. The health center, which is a non-profit organization, has been involved in providing health care services to members of these communities at no costs. As an institution, operating within the United States, it is expected to implement and enforce policies on sexual misconduct touching on its employees. However, this scandal sought to highlight the challenge within the center with regard to its approach towards dealing with such claims of sexual misconduct for both former employees and patients at the center.

The scandal and pressure from the public resulted in the resignation of the disgraced Dr. Winn, who was found culpable of these claims following internal investigations conducted by a selected committee. Public pressure also resulted in the resignation of the center’s CEO Nurit Shein and Board President Jimmy Ruiz both of who were associated with the responsibility of ensuring that the center is safe for both patients and employees. However, the center is currently working on boosting its image, which would spur confidence among its stakeholders. In a recent interview, Larry Benjamin, who is the Communications Coordinator, indicated that, “We plan to do more outreach into traditionally underserved communities-again so they can see by our actions we are worthy of a relationship with them.” Larry also moved ahead to indicated that, “Mazzoni Center has a commitment to the agency’s mission, and a commitment to make real change whether it is in reaction to a scandal, or changes in the needs of the community we serve.”

The main question that the local population within Philadelphia especially the LGBTQ communities, which were the main target for this center, has is whether the sexual misconduct scandal has had any impact on its ability to offer quality services. When answering a question on whether the center has encountered any barriers in reestablishing its image, Larry indicated that, “Yes, and no. People can be remarkably forgiving if you can show you’ve learned from your mistakes, are actively recovering and putting the past where it belongs—in the past. This country is built on second chances. We have a second chance. We just have to get it right.” That seeks to suggest that the center is working hard to ensure that it boosts its relationship with the local population as part of its approach to delivering quality health care services.

Social Media Promotion

Audience

The publication of the article, in the previous section, targets a wide array of audiences as part of its approach towards improving on effectiveness with regard to its approach to passage of necessary information. The first key audience for this article is the LGBTQ communities living within Philadelphia, PA, who received health care services from Mazzoni Center. The author believes by targeting this communities, it will be much easier in the approach towards boosting confidence considering that the scandal touched on some of the patients. The article seeks to act as source of reassurance for the population with regard to the commitment by the board and management at the center towards protecting its patients.

The second key audience that article seeks to target is health care professionals working within and outside Philadelphia. The onslaught of the scandal had a major impact on Mazzoni Center’s image, which would impact on its ability to achieve effectiveness in its collaboration with other health professional and professional bodies. That creates the need to target these professionals within the article as a way of highlight the commitment within Mazzoni Center towards delivering positive outcomes for its patients. The third audience for the article is the general population seeking information on the happenings at Mazzoni Center and the measures that the board and management have put in place to avoid such scenarios. In this case, the article seeks to provide readers with information on the challenge that the center encountered and its implementation of effective approaches to prevent such occurrences.

Platforms

To help in the promotion of this article, the main social media platforms that would be utilized will be Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The selection of these three social media platforms focused solely on the number of people accessing these platforms at any given period, which would also act as a key justification for using these platforms. Social media statistics suggest that the number of people within the United States using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as their preferred social media platforms is increasing at a rapid rate. The increase can be attributed to accessibility of these sites through smart phones, which have become one of the revolutionary technologies in the world today.

The key aspect of focus for the author is to establish a platform from which to reach a bigger audience base, as this would guarantee effectiveness in achievement of set objectives for the article. The article seeks to provide the target population with adequate information on the happenings at Mazzoni Center, which would be of value in building confidence among the population served by this health care organization. One key aspect to note is that these three social media platform offer an avenue from which to access a bigger audience attributed to the number of people using these platforms on a daily basis. Thus, this makes it easier when intending to use these platforms in the promotion of the article, as it will be much easier to capture the attention of a bigger audience.

Messaging

The following is social media messaging for the three social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, as a way of creating interest within the published article:

Facebook: Mazzoni Center has been the center of controversy since April 2017 during which time the medical director Dr. Robert Winn was accused by former employees and patients of sexual misconduct. In this article, the key focus is evaluating happenings at the center after the emergence of these claims.

Twitter: Larry Benjamin, Communications Coordinator at Mazzoni Center, highlights some of the measures put in place at the center to deal with sexual misconduct claims.

YouTube: Sexual misconduct at Mazzoni Center, what the management doing about it? are the measures by the management effective in promoting its lost image within the LGBTQ communities in Philadelphia, PA?

Evaluation of the Article

Newsworthiness

A close review of the information presented within the article suggests that it is newsworthy attributed to the nature of the story presented in the article, as well as, some of the people implicated. The story revolves around sexual misconduct within the workplace environment touching on the medical director at the centre, which is one of the largest health care centers in Philadelphia, PA offering health services to the LGBTQ communities. Sexual misconduct in the workplace remains as key issue of consideration for most organizations not only within the United States but also in different parts of the world. These claims of sexual misconduct seek to evaluate the safety of employees and other stakeholders within the workplace environment. That creates the fact that this particular story is newsworthy to help expose failure within Mazzoni Center in its bid to protecting its employees and patients from sexual misconduct within the institution.

Ethical Standing

From an ethical perspective, the article seeks to highlight a key moral issue occurring within the society, which is sexual violence against individuals. The article seeks to highlight the issue of sexual misconduct against former employees and patients as a key issue of concern for the general population. It is within the ethical expectations for the author of this article to highlight any issues touching on ethical misconduct for any individual. The article also embraces its moral positioning by highlighting the fact that the medical director at the center was using his position negatively to engage in practices that do not befit his position at the organization. The author works towards highlighting that the management holds him accountable for his actions while at the health center.

Credibility

The article is credible attributed to the fact that most of the information used within the article is from credible sources, as well as, an interview with the communications coordinator at the center. As can bee seen from the article, the information is supported by direct quotes from the interview conducted with the communications coordinator at the center, which seeks to create a rather evidence-based approach to presentation of information. The article evaluates information with regard to the perspective that it gives on the issue of sexual misconduct at Mazzoni Center, which, in turn, boosts its credibility significantly. In other words, the information article is portrayed in a manner that seeks to promote trust for individual readers.

References

Amorosi, A. (2017). Mazzoni Center moves forward with new buildings, new programs . Retrieved from https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/philadelphia/mazzoni-center-moves-forward-new-buildings-new-programs

Colleta, J. (2017). Winn out at Mazzoni Center . Retrieved from http://www.epgn.com/news/local/11890-winn-out-at-mazzoni-center

McDonald, N. (2017). Sexual misconduct allegations continue to haunt Mazzoni Center . Retrieved from http://www.phillyvoice.com/sexual-misconduct-allegations-continue-to-haunt-mazzoni-center/

Melamed, S. (2017). At LGBTQ Mazzoni health center, a bitter battle over union recognition . Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/news/mazzoni-center-workers-union-vote-robert-winn-seiu-20170912.html

Melamed, S. (2017). Union prevails at Philly LGBTQ Mazzoni health center . Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/business/union-prevails-at-philly-lgbtq-mazzoni-health-center-20170914.html

Owens, C. (2017). Timeline: Months of activism led to Mazzoni Center leadership ouster . Retrieved from https://billypenn.com/2017/04/26/timeline-months-of-activism-led-to-mazzoni-center-leadership-ouster/

Owens, E. (2017). Mazzoni Center’s Medical Director Is Under “Investigation,” Sources Claim . Retrieved from https://www.phillymag.com/g-philly/2017/04/10/mazzoni-center-robert-winn-leave/

Owens, E. (2017). Robert Winn Resigns as Mazzoni Center’s Medical Director . Retrieved from https://www.phillymag.com/g-philly/2017/04/14/mazzoni-center-robert-winn-resignation/

Schmit, T. (2017). Former Mazzoni board member says alleged sexual misconduct reason for Winn leave of absence . Retrieved from http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news/former-mazzoni-board-member-says-alleged-sexual-misconduct-reason-for/article_1f8194ae-1fcd-11e7-b590-23d3787172aa.html

White, F. (2017). Philadelphia Protests Should Reignite HIV Activism . Retrieved from http://www.hivequal.org/what-s-new/philadelphia-protests-should-reignite-hiv-activism