7.2: Media Relations
- Page ID
- 95064
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Dealing with the media can be a tough job in the best of times. And yet it’s essential that organizations make friends with the media that routinely cover the organization so that when there’s bad news the reporter will, of course, report it but from the perspective of someone who views the bad news as an anomaly, not the way the organization normally does business.
The first public relations people were hired to deal with the press. That remains a core function of corporate or strategic communications today.
Part of the media relations job is putting out press releases announcing happy news. The company announces it is going to open a new plant in a community, creating 75 new jobs. The media relations person will write a press release announcing the new plant and the 75 new jobs. A press conference will be planned at the site of the new plant. The company’s CEO will be there, as will the governor, the mayor and other dignitaries. Reporters and leading business people will be invited to the event.
The press release that was written will be distributed as will a press kit that contains additional information about the company – its history, its leading products, its leadership, etc. The press kit seeks to put all the information a reporter might need in one convenient package.
The American Library Association put together a Covid-19 Press Kit to detail what libraries were doing to support their communities.
Click Here for American Library Association Press Kit
Henry Ford, who founded Ford Motor Co., built the world’s largest automobile plant. When that plant turned 100, Ford Motor Co. put together a media kit about the facility:
Click Here for Ford Motor Co. Press Kit Celebrating 100th Anniversary of the Rouge Complex
The other part of the job is responding to media inquiries, which can come at any time of the day or night. I interviewed Chuck Carney, media relations director at Indiana University about how IU handled the outbreak of Covid. As part of the interview, he described his background and his job.
The Communications Strategy That Subdued Covid on 1 College Campus
When there is bad news, the best strategy is to get the information out to the media as quickly as possible and update it on a regular basis with what is being done to correct the situation. Here, again, the inverted pyramid structure can be helpful.
In the Southwest situation, Southwest, like all other airlines, experiences situations where it has to cancel large numbers of flights. Media relations should have swung into action the moment it became clear sometime Saturday that it would be several days before the Southwest network would be back to normal. By Sunday or Monday morning, media relations should have focused on what the airline was done to correct the situation, perhaps by letting a TV crew into Southwest’s operations center to see employees working feverishly while an executive explains the problem the blizzard created for the airline. This probably should have been the pattern for several days until the executives could see the possibility that flights would resume.
Having an effective media relations program is essential when there’s good news. It’s even more important when there’s bad news. Getting the news to the broad public, which is what media relations does, also gets it to all the other publics – in this case, stranded passengers, employees and regulators.