Hal Jones, my senior consultant and trainer at The Centre for Training in Risk and Crisis Management, went over early drafts of this book and added structure and consistency. He’s a great trainer, exemplary journalist, but the thing I’m most proud of is that, after working with me on many contentious media relations cases over seven years, we still get along.
I am very pleased to be working with two dedicated and talented people at Sextant Publishing, Ken Champman and Satya Brata Das. They are part of Cambridge Strategies, the public policy research group that is dedicated to clarity and action in law making and administration. They conduct research, write discussion papers, give speeches at major conferences and selectively publish works designed to support an informed discussion of important public issues. I’m glad they consider this volume such a work.
The errors and omissions are mine, but thanks to all who helped.
Introduction
In a span of little more than 50 years, what we now know as “the media” has grown to become one of the most significant social factors in our daily lives. It informs us, it entertains us and —whether we like it or not—it helps shape our thoughts and opinions.
It is this characteristic that makes it important for companies, organizations, institutions and some individuals to analyze their particular situations so they can decide if they need to develop a media strategy. A strategy may consist of no more than trying to avoid the media. That’s not very imaginative — it may even be unrealistic — but any strategy is better than no strategy.
It is important to remember that “media” is collective: it includes all types of communication, technology and people. A weekly newspaper in a small, rural community is just as much part of the media as a national television network. The young and often inexperienced reporters who work for the former may appear to have very little in common with the photogenic anchors and correspondents of the latter. But they’re all interested in a big story. And quite often what starts out as an interesting but unremarkable local story can very quickly turn out to be part of a much larger story on a national or international network.
Trade publications and programs, community cable television, shopping mall flyers and Internet sites and services are also part of the media. So are billboards, direct mail, skywriting planes and the Goodyear Blimp. They are all media of communication and all can have some impact on the way a company, organization or person is seen by others. But for all practical purposes, it is the news media and particularly the large, wellestablished news organizations that have the power to change the attitudes and opinions of whole communities. This is the sector of the media — the news sector — on which we will focus.
The fact that you are reading this indicates you already have an interest in knowing more about the media and how to deal with news organizations and their reporters. You may be concerned about a sensitive issue or event that is imminent or possible; it could be you just feel there is something you need to tell a larger audience; or it could be that your company or organization has decided it wants to augment the services of a dedicated public affairs department or person.
Whatever your situation, what follows will not only help you establish an overarching communications plan, but will provide you with a wealth of practical and detailed instructions on what to do and how to do it — from writing a press release to organizing a news conference and appearing in front of the TV cameras.
It is comprehensive and easy to understand. Most of all, it is effective because it incorporates the SOCKO management system that Allan Bonner Communications Management Inc. has used while training more than 15,000 high risk and high profile clients all over the world. SOCKOs are Strategic Overriding Communications and Knowledge Objectives. As you will see later, SOCKOs provide a framework for developing and delivering messages that will help you achieve your communication goals.
Chapter 1: The Media and You
Like it or not, it’s almost impossible to cut yourself off from today’s news media. Step into an elevator in any office tower and you are likely to find your eyes drawn to a television monitor with a stream of numbers and stock symbols scrolling through. Restaurants, bars, waiting rooms, lobbies and even airlines have televisions tuned to 24hour news channels or sports events (or both).
We are bombarded by news, information and data day and night. Sometimes we are interested enough to absorb parts of it. Most of the time it passes over or through us without having much impact.
But when something really interests us — be it stock prices, entertainment news, sports or human tragedy — we are influenced to some extent by the media. It is this influence that politicians, governments, corporations, entertainers and celebrities try so hard to harness.
So can you.
What is News?
Occasionally the world experiences something so dramatic or overwhelmingly important that it grabs everybody’s attention. We have no doubts — THIS IS NEWS!
On an average day, however, it’s far more likely that the items included in a news broadcast or newspaper will have a much more limited appeal. We wonder — and sometimes we write letters to the editor to complain — why anyone would want to PRINT SUCH DRIVEL!
Soon after World War II the US government established an official panel on Freedom of the Press which took it upon itself to try to define this nebulous thing we call “news.” According to the panel, news should be a full, comprehensive and intelligent account of the day’s events. News should identify fact as fact and opinion as opinion, provide full access to the day’s intelligence and reflect the constituent groups in society. Now these are lofty ideals and we shouldn’t be too surprised when they are not lived up to all the time.
I like the definition of news provided by the late Phil Graham of the Washington Post. He called news “The first rough draft of history.” It may be important, have an impact on people and make a difference but it is being drafted on the run and so comes to us complete with errors, omissions, warts and foibles. Journalists watch the world rushing by at breakneck speed — and then present us with a snapshot of the day’s events and happenings. When you look at journalists’ work in that context, they don’t do too badly.
Here’s another definition I like. An old Australian editor once said that “news is anything that causes people to exclaim, Oh . . . !”
I’m not sure that it is possible to define news in a way that will satisfy everybody, any more than news organizations can be sure that all their readers, viewers or subscribers will approve of their selection of news items.
This may seem too vague and unsatisfying but bear in mind it is this vagueness that encourages so much diversity in the news media and allows more opportunities for ordinary people to tell their stories to their neighbours and, sometimes, to the world.
Your News Value
What we think of ourselves isn’t the same as what others think of us. It’s the same with companies, organizations and institutions.
Even insiders can have different views of an organization. Managers and employees are often at odds. Now broaden the frame of the picture to include customers, shareholders, competitors, suppliers, regulators, plant neighbours, financial analysts, fired employees and their dependents.
At any given time there may be several different assessments of the organization ranging from “wonderful” to “awful.” Often these views balance out. Occasionally one becomes more noticeable than the other. If it’s a positive view, everyone’s happy and the organization prospers. But if it’s negative, heads may roll and the organization may lose stature and money.
Because the news media