Do’s and Don’ts for Dealing with Media
Submitted by: Paul Jablow, Paul Jablow
Anyone who was in the newspaper business for almost 40 years, as I was, can almost surely come up with a list of do’s and don’ts for dealing with the media.
The lists would probably differ in some ways but I don’t think too many media veterans would disagree with these.
Some of these "rules" might seem obvious, others less so. Hopefully most of them will get you thinking a bit. And they just might keep you out of trouble. Or even get some good publicity for your product or service.
1) Tell the Truth.
The most obvious, perhaps, but the one that’s most often ignored in small but telling ways. You obviously don’t want to give away secrets to your competitors. But you also don’t want to give a collection of stray facts, glaring omissions or out-of-context statistics that might be literally true but give a false impression. Better to say nothing than to lie or mislead.
2) Know Your Market.
Media outlets like to see themselves as thinking outside the box but they all have particular types of stories they like. Decide which one to approach based on this, not how you can convince them to try something totally different. If you’re trying to expand your market for hot dogs, go to the folks eating hamburgers, not vegetarians.
3) Open Off-Broadway
Is your story really that interesting or even compelling? Try it out on a couple of friends or colleagues before approaching a media outlet. You can’t count on endless opportunities to sell your story. If you offer too many ideas that fall flat, the media outlets stop listening to you.
4) Identify the Person You Want to Deal With.
Media organizations — surprise — are often large, complex organizations staffed by overworked people. Approaching the wrong person might get your idea lost in the shuffle. Approaching the right person gets you immediate credibility for doing your homework.
Simply calling up a newspaper or radio or TV station doesn’t automatically get you to the right person unless you’re calling the traffic tipsters’ hot line. You could get someone just making a guess — if you get a human being at all.
Chances are you know someone who would know whom to approach, or at least can find out.
5) Watch Out About Pulling Strings.
You may know the person at the top but you don’t want to be continually dropping your story ideas on them. They probably aren’t in the day to day production of the newspaper or TV show. Plus doing this can breed resentment among the rank and file production people, which will hurt you in the long run.
The same holds true making complaints. Always start with the person immediately responsible for the story. Or the refusal to run the story. Go up the ladder only if you don’t get satisfaction. And even then, only when absolutely necessary.
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