Blog

May 2010 – Rachel Cass writes…

Media - friend or foe?

It’s easy to understand the public’s aversion to the press when every day papers, magazines and websites are full of negative stories and ‘exclusives’ on the latest celebrity comedown - it seems journalists can’t wait to jump in and feed off bad news.

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking the media is a big bad wolf. Treated well and used properly it can be your ally whether you have good, or bad news to convey.

So let’s start with the positive. How better to let your target audience know about a big contract win, a new appointment, an exciting investment or an interesting company development than by sending a well written media release to the press, radio and TV (where appropriate). If it’s picked up by the media – and it will be if the story is good enough – then you’ve bagged yourself some free advertising in the best possible format as it’s someone else saying you’re great!

It pays to spend a bit of time building and maintaining relationships with your target media. If journalists become accustomed to receiving well thought out, genuine news stories from you, you may find yourself in the fortunate position of being approached by them for comment as an expert in your field. Again what better endorsement.

But what happens when it comes to handling bad news? For many, if there are redundancies to be made or a crisis to be dealt with, the automatic approach is to say nothing and hope the media won’t find out. But they probably will and if you don’t approach them first with a carefully crafted statement addressing all the key issues, you can bet they will find someone else to talk to who may not be quite so thoughtful.

Whatever your company or brand has to deal with, transparency is always the best option and if you’ve already built a good relationship with the media, this can only go in your favour. Negative stories often unfold when journalists uncover information that has been ‘forgotten’ or buried, but if you are upfront with the facts from the start, there will be no need for the media to dig deeper.

In the event of disasters the media can also play a vital, and positive part. As 9/11 and the 7/7 London bombings unfolded, it was the media who were able to give out helpline numbers and news of casualties which the public were desperate to know. The following coverage which went on for days, weeks and months also served to make us all aware of the dangers of terrorism - although admittedly there was a lot of unnecessary and morbid reporting.

I always remember a relaxation class I went to run by a spiritual group. During the following discussion it was suggested we should all turn off our TVs and radios and veto newspapers as they are full of negative stories which interfere with our inner calm. In a way I can understand the idea but wouldn’t it make for a very narrow minded and uninformed society if we shut off to what is happening in our world?

The media is a powerful vehicle and how else would we know about war and suffering and be compelled to take action, if we didn’t watch TV, listen to the radio, read newspapers or surf the net. Good reporting can spread the word and make a difference.
The many and varied media channels available today provide you with endless opportunities to connect with your audience. So don’t waste this precious resource. Proactively engage with the media and it can be a very useful friend to have.