Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press

\ Media Training 101\ \ \ \ A Guide to Meeting the Press\ \ \ \ By Sally Stewart\ \ \ John Wiley & Sons\ \ \ \ Copyright © 2003\ \ Sally Stewart\ All right reserved.\ \ \ ISBN: 0-471-27155-1\ \ \ \ Chapter One\ \ \ Foundational Rules\ for Media Success\ \ Lesson Plan\ In this chapter, we cover the basics of working with reporters,\ including the six steps for generating good public relations\ (PR), explain what reporters want from you and how to deliver\ on their expectations, and discuss the importance of being realistic\ about your company's weaknesses-before a reporter uncovers\ them.\ \ You have built a successful business. Your earnings exceed expectations.\ You've got all the right employees in all the right\ places. You're planning to expand, perhaps by acquiring a\ competitor or opening an operation in Asia.\ Congratulations. But, have you given any thought to exactly\ how you are going to share your dreams with the rest of the business\ world? After all, sharing your vision is the first step in securing the\ support you will need to grow your business, attract new customers,\ and create the excitement your company needs to turn your vision\ into reality.\ As a former reporter who spent 13 years covering major news\ events for USAToday and as a public relations consultant who has\ worked for some of the most respected and successful companies in\ the world, I can attest to the power of good media communications.\ A story about a company can generate orders and trigger investor\ interest, but if the story is unflattering, it can quash investor enthusiasm\ and employee morale as well as slash company growth.\ When a financial analyst receives a call from a reporter about a\ certain stock, his answers and the resulting story could have great\ impact on the company. How can you make sure that your company's\ story is one that will fuel your business goals?\ In this book, I give you an insider's view into how reporters and\ PR operate. I also show you how to present accurate information\ about your company, its products, and strategies to the press. The\ media can then deliver the best possible message to an audience comprised\ of your current and potential customers, employees, business\ partners, investors, and vendors.\ Many of my clients approach me to represent them anywhere\ from six months to a year before their target date for unveiling a\ new product, commencing an acquisition, or going public with a\ significant company development. These clients know about the\ benefits that media exposure can bring to their businesses. The\ right stories can attract strategic partners and bigger clients; the\ right stories can educate the Wall Street community about a company's\ business model and smooth the path toward securing investments\ crucial to a company's growth. Positive press also can help\ to attract and retain top-notch employees, and it can give your\ company the kind of brand-building image you can't buy, even\ with the world's largest advertising budget. A flattering magazine\ profile of a CEO that appears right before his company makes a bid\ to acquire another company can help ease the negotiations. After\ reading the profile, the leaders of the soon-to-be-acquired company\ may feel more comfortable with the CEO.\ Unfortunately, bad press can sink a business. The wrong story\ at the wrong time can rob your company of its future. For example,\ Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia was hardly the only company\ exposed in the financial scandals of this new century. However, the\ unflattering media stories about CEO Martha Stewart that emphasized\ her arrogance, snobbishness, and disdainful treatment of her\ colleagues helped fuel government investigations and the drastic\ slide in the price of the company's stock.\ Recklessly plunging into a public relations program without\ strategic planning can turn clients, vendors, and partners away from\ doing business with you. Once a negative story is written, it's not\ easily forgotten.\ Before we get started on your media training, let's review a few\ ground rules that are essential to any successful public relations\ program. I'll explain these rules in further detail in the coming\ chapters, but for now, these foundational rules will give you a sense\ of how journalists approach their job (and your company's story)\ and what you should do to prepare yourself for generating great\ publicity:\ Understand how public relations really works.\ Know what reporters really want.\ Not all stories are created equal.\ Measure your pain threshold.\ The Alpha Dog Story leads the pack.\ Beggars are never happy.\ Reporters are not your friends.\ The New York Times equals The Santa Monica Daily Press.\ Phony is baloney.\ You can't pitch what you don't know.\ \ Understand How Public Relations Really Works\ Public perceptions are built over time and so is public demand for a\ product. I once worked for a CEO who believed-no matter how\ energetically I argued with him-that a single story would make\ the phones ring in his order department. Every time we got a story\ about his company's products into the press, he ordered extra phone\ lines installed and if they weren't lighting up with consumers placing\ orders, he was disappointed. Any positive story will make a few\ consumers open their wallets, but generally, there won't be a tidal\ wave until the stories build into a pipeline filled with demand, and\ that takes time and more than one story.\ Another one of my clients, Scott Painter, the founder of\ CarsDirect.com, has the right idea. Scott believes public relations\ fuels sales, but he knows that there are many steps in the process\ of getting sales and that just one misstep can undo all of the\ work that went into getting the story. Here is his step-by-step\ program.\ \ Seven Steps for Turning PR into Sales\ Step 1 Awareness: A consumer reads a story and becomes aware\ that the product and/or company exists. This step is particularly\ important in the development of new companies that\ don't have a lengthy history or a strong consumer following.\ Step 2 Interest: A consumer reads another story and, as a result,\ becomes interested in learning more. Alternatively, the\ consumer hears about the story from someone who read it\ firsthand. His interest has begun to grow and he now\ wants to know more about the product and your company.\ Step 3 Action: Another story might prompt the consumer to ask a\ friend about the product or to do some research about it on\ the Internet, or perhaps the story generates interest from\ another reporter at another publication. (Reporters read\ other publications to look for story ideas.)\ Step 4 Understanding: The consumer reads another story or studies\ his Internet research to begin to understand how the\ product might help his life or business.\ Step 5 Advocating: As the company's publicity continues to grow,\ the consumer reads yet another story and begins to discuss\ with colleagues, friends, and family members his intent to\ buy the product.\ Step 6 Buying: The next story prompts the consumer to purchase\ the product. At this step, the consumer has high expectations\ for the product. He anticipates that his experience\ with the product will match the flattering stories he has\ read. (Indeed, although the media is often criticized for\ being biased or inaccurate, most of us believe the journalism\ we read and watch.)\ Step 7 Judging: The consumer uses the product and judges whether\ it was all the stories said it was. If it's not, then the process\ shifts into reverse. The customer returns the product, tells\ friends and colleagues that it was a failure, feels that he's\ been duped, and might take action against the company by\ writing letters to the media or giving an interview to a reporter\ that is highly critical of the product.\ At any step along the way, an unflattering media story can derail\ the process of building consumers' interest. A consumer might be\ ready to buy your product or an investor might be willing to devote\ some capital to your company, but until he completes that transaction,\ he is likely to change his mind if he reads some bad press.\ These seven steps show how overlapping public relations initiatives\ can encourage consumers to test new products. However,\ the steps also demonstrate how public relations can work against a\ product or company that fails to live up to its stories. When reality\ doesn't match a company's public relations, the company develops\ a reputation for hype that will hurt its future publicity efforts. Reporters\ who believe that a company misled them into writing a puff\ piece won't cover your next development or, even worse, they will\ punish the company by writing a negative story. By following the\ Foundational Rules for Public Relations Success that I outline in\ this book, you will understand how to present the facts about your\ company to the media with confidence and accuracy.\ \ Know What Reporters Really Want\ Rick Orlov, the highly regarded political reporter for the Los Angeles\ Daily News, tells a story about a disgruntled reader who called\ one day to complain about one of his stories. The reader accused\ Rick of intentional bias. The conversation went as follows:\ \ "I know just what you were thinking when you wrote that\ story," the reader said.\ "I bet you don't," Rick said.\ "You were thinking, 'I'm going to get those guys,'" the reader\ said.\ "Actually," said Rick, "I was thinking, 'As soon as I finish this\ story, I can go home.' "\ \ This says it all. What reporters really want is usually pretty simple:\ They want their calls returned, they want a quote for their story,\ and they want to do their job and go home. Don't make your relationship\ with reporters complicated.\ \ Not All Stories Are Created Equal\ When you begin seeking press coverage, don't leap at every chance\ to be included in a story. In many cases, if a reporter's proposed story\ angle doesn't fit in with your company's strategic public relations\ plan, it's better to pass on the opportunity.\ If a potential client came to you and wanted to buy your company's\ services, and if you found out that that client had a poor\ credit history, along with a reputation for suing its vendors, you\ probably wouldn't be interested in signing them up. Use the same\ discretion with your PR.\ When I was vice president of public relations for an Internet\ company, the NASDAQ began falling and, as with many public\ high-tech companies, the value of stock options began taking a\ nose-dive. A reporter called me because she was doing a story about\ low employee morale related to the sinking worth of stock options.\ A public relations professional who operated under the assumption\ that she should grab any press opportunity would have granted\ the interview. However, my company was not yet publicly held and,\ according to the valuations assigned by top-tier investment banks,\ our stock option price was still stable. At that moment, it would have\ been misguided to give investors the sense that our morale was declining\ when, in fact, we were still doing well. I told the reporter we\ didn't fit the story angle and, as a result, we missed out on a chance\ to have our company's name in the paper, but we also avoided being\ lumped in with less fortunate companies.\ \ Measure Your Pain Threshold\ Any credible story is sure to include something you would have left\ out if you were writing the story. If, for example, your stock was at\ an all-time low six months ago, but today it's at an all-time high, it\ is a pretty sure bet that the story will mention that and speculate as\ to whether the high can hold. If the company's past CEO resigned\ after a sexual harassment scandal, then it's a given that the negative\ history is going to be retold in the story, even if today's CEO has\ presided over a positive change in the company's culture.\ Before you move forward, take an accurate, no-holds-barred\ measurement of your company's pain threshold. If the company\ would consider it a failure if the story were to mention any glitch\ from the past, then don't try to get a story published because you\ will only end up failing.\ No publication or broadcast program wants to be known for\ doing puff pieces and any story must have the essential element of\ drama. Therefore, a story about a high-flying company will ask the\ question, "Can it last?" A story about a political candidate who is\ leading in the polls will pose the question, "But is there any momentum\ behind the candidate?"\ It's a reporter's job to be skeptical, to ask the tough questions,\ and to set up the drama. Often, business people think that when a\ reporter is asking tough questions, he is, in effect, sticking a knife\ into the company. As a former reporter, I can tell you that it's fine\ for a journalist to take a few jabs at your company, but what you\ want to avoid is having that reporter stab you in the back. See\ Chapters 9 through 11 for more detailed advice on how to avoid\ being stabbed in the back by remaining calm, nondefensive, and\ sticking to the facts.\ Comedy also can be an element of a story that some executives\ might find difficult to take. Recently, one of my clients was the\ focus of a story that started with a joke. My client didn't think the\ joke was funny and assumed that the reporter was intentionally\ making his company a laughingstock. On the contrary, every outsider\ who read the story chuckled at the joke and believed that the\ company was favorably covered in the story.\ A story that is generally accurate but points out a wart or two\ will actually appear more credible than a story that's purely positive;\ furthermore, it may result in increased business for your company.\ This fact is even more apparent in business journalism\ because business reporters are, on the whole, tougher, smarter, and\ more sophisticated than their general assignment counterparts.\ Their stories will turn over all the rocks and expose past history,\ but ultimately, most U.S. business publications and programs like to\ celebrate capitalism and corporate successes.\ \ The Alpha Dog Story Leads the Pack\ When an editor assigns a story about a company to a reporter, the\ first move the reporter makes is to seek out everything that has ever\ been written about that company. The Internet has made that process\ very easy. At some of the larger newspapers, magazines, and\ TV news shows, the reporter calls the in-house librarian and orders\ a Lexis-Nexis search. If the resulting research turns up unflattering\ facts, such as a pattern of unscrupulous business practices and\ faulty merchandise, it's a given that the reporter will mention those\ old accusations in her new story.\ Moreover, it doesn't matter if the company has changed or if\ new management is in charge.\ \ Continues...\ \ \ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Media Training 101\ by Sally Stewart\ Copyright © 2003 by Sally Stewart.\ Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.\ \

PrefaceIntroduction1Ch. 1Foundational Rules for Media Success11Ch. 2How Journalists Think and Behave27Ch. 3Responding to Journalists37Ch. 4What Is News?50Ch. 5Key Message Point Workshop65Ch. 6Lethal Mistakes: The Dirty Dozen73Ch. 7Playing the Interview Game and Winning79Ch. 8Putting the Organic Keyword Method to Work94Ch. 9Key Message Point Practice Questions100Ch. 10Interviews: What Is What and Who Is Who111Ch. 11Things You Should Never Say to a Reporter125Ch. 12When Things Go Wrong132Ch. 13Dress for Media Success143Ch. 14When the Media Just Shows Up155Ch. 15Crisis Control165Ch. 16How to Write and Review a Press Release176Ch. 17How to Pitch Your Company's Story185Ch. 18How to Hire PR That Works197Ch. 19How to Create a Stellar Press Kit208Ch. 20Media Training and the World Wide Web217Ch. 21PR Lessons from Law School223Conclusion228Glossary229Acknowledgments237Index239About the Author244