Welcome to Leading Edge’s media blog. The basic material is written by Jerry Ceppos, former vice president for news of Knight Ridder and former executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News. But the blog depends on you. Post your reactions to Jerry’s thoughts—or your views on any media issue, especially any involving the intersection of the media and leadership, one of Leading Edge’s specialties.

The scandal at Hewlett-Packard made front-page news around the country and will again as officials of the company appear before a congressional committee. But here in Silicon Valley, where “the HP Way” is famous for ethical, non-confrontational management, it’s the talk at every Starbucks. The San Jose Mercury News summed up the prevailing view without even knowing it was doing that. When the story broke, the Mercury News described HP as “iconic.” Within two days, the newspaper referred to the “once iconic company.”

In case you missed the front pages or don’t go to Starbucks in Silicon Valley, the story so far:

To stop leaks from its board of directors, HP’s chairman ordered an investigation. HP’s outside investigators lied to obtain telephone records of directors, reporters and some HP employees; officers considered creating a phony “Deep Throat” to trap reporters and the leaker; someone apparently even planted some software in a reporter’s terminal that might have identified her sources. There are reports that security people tailed an HP director and at least one reporter. The chairman has resigned. So has the leaker. HP’s ethics officer and its security honcho are expected to follow.

What does this have to do with the media and leadership? Two things:

First, Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute points out that we’re hypocritical in criticizing HP because our own investigative techniques aren’t so pure.

Second, the case demonstrates that a company with perhaps the best reputation in the world, burnished over almost 70 years, could lose part of that image in a day or two if it hasn’t planned a disaster drill.

Here’s what leaders of media organizations can do to avoid another HP:

1. Acknowledge that an ethical crisis is in your future. It is.
2. Plan for it by codifying your policies. When is misrepresentation OK, if ever? What constitutes a conflict of interest? When are anonymous sources allowed?
3. Live your policy, in ways big and small. If fairness and accuracy are important to you, be bold and liberal with corrections. If equity is important to you, treat the star columnist as you would the copy boy (do we still have copy boys?). The staff will notice.
4. Regardless of the specifics of your policies, practice transparency. Let readers in on your secrets. Let them ask questions. A regular column helps, especially because staffers will read it and say, “I didn’t know that.”

When the inevitable crisis occurs, your staff and the public won’t be surprised by your tough reaction because you’ve clearly signaled your policies.

Oh, yes: Don’t waste time following reporters around. The older ones simply are headed to the bar, the younger ones to the health club.