The Great Crypto Heist Crisis
Show notes
It's not easy putting a positive spin on having more than six billion dollars stolen from your company in roughly 20 minutes.
And so we turn to what's being called the biggest heist in history - the hack of cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.
This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at how the people at the very top of the company handled the crisis - in real time. This was a reputational battle being fought minute-by-minute on phones and social media platforms. It helped that the normal corporate PR rules of polished press releases don't seem to apply in the crypto world.
On the extended edition on BBC Sounds, we look at whispering campaigns. Court documents suggest Meta discussed how to discredit the academic who has helped lead the global social media backlash. Should we be surprised that such tactics are considered - and is there a grey area between winning the public argument and doing so by underhand means?
Also, they had us at rowing Vikings at the World Cup - and now Norway has pulled off another bit of PR brilliance. After the country was labelled a 'shithouse' by President Trump, Visit Norway decided not to stoop to his level. Instead, they published a series of photos of some of the country's public conveniences in the most stunning locations. As Farzana and David explain, it's a great example of using your opponent's weight against them.
Producer: Duncan Middleton Editor: Sarah Teasdale Executive Producer: Eve Streeter Music by Eclectic Sounds A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4