ABC & GMA at fault in Amy Robach, T.J. Holmes affair scandal?

On the bombshell affair of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, a PR expert said ABC's 'firefighting' response has added fuel to the fire, which created unnecessary fallout, which was purely an internal matter of the network.

Talking to The U.S. Sun, Edward Coram-James, head of PR firm GoUp, believed ABC and GMA executives blundered the handling of GMA3 co-anchors romance that snowballed into a crisis which put the studio's reputation at stake.

As insiders at the time told Page Six, "[ABC brass] does not seem to [be] very competent in how they're handling this."

The expert argued that opening an investigation into the matter by the network made the issue out of control as affairs usually do not fall into the serious misconduct category.

But with the launching of the investigation, the spotlight was thrown on the scandalous duo and, by extension, to the network, which "multiplied the fallout and increased the length" of the crisis.

"There are occasions where this is a good idea, especially when the allegations made include serious wrongdoing (in which case the institution has to be seen to be acting responsibly). Affairs are not one of those occasions,” Coram-James continued.

"In my opinion, ABC made a significant (albeit common) error here. I don’t believe that the two principals needed to move on from ABC,” adding, “As unfortunate and inappropriate as affairs are, they are a normal part of life. The audience will likely have quickly moved on."

Interestingly, ABC News president Kevin Goodwin ruled out any company policy violation by the pair's relationship. 

Still, she added that it proved to be an internal and external "distraction."

Meanwhile, the top executive explained the affairs are part of the media industry, and negative coverage is an added factor.

But he claimed the appropriate response would cover the bad press, which did not happen in the Robach-Holmes case.

"When the story originally breaks, it can feel like the chaos will never end," he added.

The PR expert said, “This is the point at which intervention is important, as the decisions made at this point will often dictate how bad the fallout will be.

If bad decisions are made, those bad decisions can pour petrol on the fire. If good decisions are made, they can pour water.”

Calling ABC and GMA's response a "common mistake" where workers "go on the defensive and try to distance themselves from the principal, seeing this as the best way to protect themselves."

But, he claimed that it only works in some of the cases.

Adding, “By parting ways, the network and the principals are again lending credibility to the idea that there’s a crisis and inflating the level of crisis. There was no need for it to be a scandal."

In the end, Coram-James attested to Robach and Holmes's talent.

"They’re both incredibly talented and respected anchors and their wrongdoing is very far from terminal. They’ll get more work."

Last January, Holmes and Robach parted ways with the network after 8 and 10 years of service, respectively.