The Media are omnipresent nowadays; they are both a constituency and a transmitter of information. Investors, suppliers, retailers, and consumers as well receive information whereupon images of companies are developed. Almost every company nowadays realized the significance of the media as a disseminator and has some kind of media relations department.
The News Media
News is spread through every media, television, radio, internet, and written media like magazines and newspapers. They reach almost everybody and with the right of free speech, guaranteed through the First Amendment of the Constitution they helped shape attitudes among the population, making them a powerful part of society. For business the media turned out to be a challenge. Business leaders used to privacy for decades had suddenly to face the exposure practiced by the media. Companies had to find a way to deal with the media and use the media as rather as tool for spreading positive news. This led to more responsibility on part of the companies toward society, because the corporations realized that they could not afford to be connected with any exposure of scandals.
In the 1970’s and thereafter the coverage of business related issues in the media began to expand more and more. Today many magazines and Web sites are solely devoted to business news. TV Channels like FOX, CNBC, and CNN broadcast news around the clock covering corporate news. While in 1983 were 50 corporations controlling the vast majority of the media in the US; due to consolidation there are only five corporations today operating 90 percent of the mass media in the US. Another trend is that the media in order to catch the audience’s attention are not interested in reporting about the good things companies do, as much as about spreading the “bad” news.
Building better relations with the media
With their media relations departments (MRD) companies strive to build a better relationship with the media. In order to be successful with this intend the companies’ media relation departments attempt to build up relationships to specific members of the media, so that they get heard. There are so many press releases sent by companies to reporters that most of them end up in the trash can. Therefore it is important to have the relationship to reporters who take one seriously. The aim for companies is to achieve to communicate their subject through the media, reaching the audience the way it was initiated by the company.
Employees of the MRD do a lot of elaborate research before they release any news. Firstly they determine the objectives they have for a certain story. Secondly they look for the right place to public the story. It is important to find a reporter who publishes a balanced story, that means a story that is rather positive than negative for the corporation. Though there is never a guarantee for a good story, by conducting this research it can be avoided to some extent that the story fails its objectives.
At least as much important as the research before publishing stories or advertisement, is to respond to media calls; missing incoming requests from media means missing the chance to communicate one’s public image. The best option would be having a call-center integrated in the MRD. The agents in the call center should be specifically trained for these calls in order to distinguish important from unimportant calls, to find out the reporters attitude in this story, and to try to get as much information as possible from the phone call and in return giving as less information as possible.
If it comes to an interview, an MRD professional should plan to sit in on the interview. Research about the reporter and the show are necessary to prepare the executive for the interview; watching the last major stories published by the reporter who will conduct the interview, can be very helpful for an appropriate preparation.
Finally it is important for companies not only to build good relationships with the media, but also to maintain those relationships; one way to achieve long-term relationships id to try to keep face-to-face contact with the reporters so the both get to know better one another. If possible, reporters should be chosen who personally fit with the executive. Should this be impossible, the MRD professional will have to convince the executive to get along well with the reporter, by keeping always in mind that reporters need the companies as much as the companies need them.
Building a Successful Media Relations Program
Companies have to be willing to devote some resources to improve their relationships to media. Those resources can be monetary, but not only; the executive, i.e. should also invest some time to keep in contact with the media. An in-house media relations staff should also be developed in order to build log-term relationships with the media. Consultants and public relation firms can be helpful but are not enough for the long term. Outside consultants can be used for a major story or if a crisis arises. Also in creating video news releases and their distribution, outside firms can turn out to be very valuable.
Developing an Online Media Strategy
The internet is a medium that is not to be neglected. Over the past two decades it became so powerful that it is a very effective medium to use. The company can display her self-image on her Web site, release news, blogs, etc. Current customers can get any information at any time they want, about the company and the products; also potential customers can be attracted by this offer of information. The internet became so widespread, that bad or phony news can reach consumers as fast as valid news. So, today many companies put great efforts into monitoring the internet in order to correct wrongful news and to avoid getting a bad public image.
A blog is a great opportunity for companies to fight wrongful allegations published in the web. Everybody can be a publisher in the internet, so people who want to harm a company or her image can publish such reports on the internet even if they are based on wrongful assumptions. In a blog a company gives the reader the chance to place a comment and the company on the other hand has the chance to reply to those concerns. Furthermore companies can search other blogs whether they were mentioned on them, and have the chance to correct fact by replying appropriately.
Examples:
In order to build better relations with the media, Verizon measures its success by keeping records of all of its hits in the media. Verizon does not only look where and in which extent in the media it was mentioned, but how well the company’s key messages are communicated. Verizon tries to elevate its media score by tracking where the hits landed and with what constituencies.
Another example of a company’s successful efforts to build strong media relations is Matalan Clothing Retailers in the United Kingdom. The company offers journalists tours of its headquarters, including opportunities to try on its clothing in changing rooms and to fully analyze its distribution network. The company tactically avoids phone to phone interviews and pursues face to face contact with the journalists. With this personalized approach, Matlan became a favorite company among the journalists.
Experiences:
When I did my internship at the world’s largest steel pipe producer, I found out that this company has been visited by a camera team a few months ago. They were producing a documentary for a show on a channel similar to the Discovery Channel. They documented the whole process how raw steel becomes a steel pipe and have of course mentioned some words about the company. The producers of the shoe were happy because they got permission to film within the company, finally having another episode of “The world’s greatest…”, and the company on the other hand was happy that this documentary was also a very positive report about the company, showing the high quality of their products and, the uniqueness of this company, the world’s largest steel pipe producer.
The News Media
News is spread through every media, television, radio, internet, and written media like magazines and newspapers. They reach almost everybody and with the right of free speech, guaranteed through the First Amendment of the Constitution they helped shape attitudes among the population, making them a powerful part of society. For business the media turned out to be a challenge. Business leaders used to privacy for decades had suddenly to face the exposure practiced by the media. Companies had to find a way to deal with the media and use the media as rather as tool for spreading positive news. This led to more responsibility on part of the companies toward society, because the corporations realized that they could not afford to be connected with any exposure of scandals.
In the 1970’s and thereafter the coverage of business related issues in the media began to expand more and more. Today many magazines and Web sites are solely devoted to business news. TV Channels like FOX, CNBC, and CNN broadcast news around the clock covering corporate news. While in 1983 were 50 corporations controlling the vast majority of the media in the US; due to consolidation there are only five corporations today operating 90 percent of the mass media in the US. Another trend is that the media in order to catch the audience’s attention are not interested in reporting about the good things companies do, as much as about spreading the “bad” news.
Building better relations with the media
With their media relations departments (MRD) companies strive to build a better relationship with the media. In order to be successful with this intend the companies’ media relation departments attempt to build up relationships to specific members of the media, so that they get heard. There are so many press releases sent by companies to reporters that most of them end up in the trash can. Therefore it is important to have the relationship to reporters who take one seriously. The aim for companies is to achieve to communicate their subject through the media, reaching the audience the way it was initiated by the company.
Employees of the MRD do a lot of elaborate research before they release any news. Firstly they determine the objectives they have for a certain story. Secondly they look for the right place to public the story. It is important to find a reporter who publishes a balanced story, that means a story that is rather positive than negative for the corporation. Though there is never a guarantee for a good story, by conducting this research it can be avoided to some extent that the story fails its objectives.
At least as much important as the research before publishing stories or advertisement, is to respond to media calls; missing incoming requests from media means missing the chance to communicate one’s public image. The best option would be having a call-center integrated in the MRD. The agents in the call center should be specifically trained for these calls in order to distinguish important from unimportant calls, to find out the reporters attitude in this story, and to try to get as much information as possible from the phone call and in return giving as less information as possible.
If it comes to an interview, an MRD professional should plan to sit in on the interview. Research about the reporter and the show are necessary to prepare the executive for the interview; watching the last major stories published by the reporter who will conduct the interview, can be very helpful for an appropriate preparation.
Finally it is important for companies not only to build good relationships with the media, but also to maintain those relationships; one way to achieve long-term relationships id to try to keep face-to-face contact with the reporters so the both get to know better one another. If possible, reporters should be chosen who personally fit with the executive. Should this be impossible, the MRD professional will have to convince the executive to get along well with the reporter, by keeping always in mind that reporters need the companies as much as the companies need them.
Building a Successful Media Relations Program
Companies have to be willing to devote some resources to improve their relationships to media. Those resources can be monetary, but not only; the executive, i.e. should also invest some time to keep in contact with the media. An in-house media relations staff should also be developed in order to build log-term relationships with the media. Consultants and public relation firms can be helpful but are not enough for the long term. Outside consultants can be used for a major story or if a crisis arises. Also in creating video news releases and their distribution, outside firms can turn out to be very valuable.
Developing an Online Media Strategy
The internet is a medium that is not to be neglected. Over the past two decades it became so powerful that it is a very effective medium to use. The company can display her self-image on her Web site, release news, blogs, etc. Current customers can get any information at any time they want, about the company and the products; also potential customers can be attracted by this offer of information. The internet became so widespread, that bad or phony news can reach consumers as fast as valid news. So, today many companies put great efforts into monitoring the internet in order to correct wrongful news and to avoid getting a bad public image.
A blog is a great opportunity for companies to fight wrongful allegations published in the web. Everybody can be a publisher in the internet, so people who want to harm a company or her image can publish such reports on the internet even if they are based on wrongful assumptions. In a blog a company gives the reader the chance to place a comment and the company on the other hand has the chance to reply to those concerns. Furthermore companies can search other blogs whether they were mentioned on them, and have the chance to correct fact by replying appropriately.
Examples:
In order to build better relations with the media, Verizon measures its success by keeping records of all of its hits in the media. Verizon does not only look where and in which extent in the media it was mentioned, but how well the company’s key messages are communicated. Verizon tries to elevate its media score by tracking where the hits landed and with what constituencies.
Another example of a company’s successful efforts to build strong media relations is Matalan Clothing Retailers in the United Kingdom. The company offers journalists tours of its headquarters, including opportunities to try on its clothing in changing rooms and to fully analyze its distribution network. The company tactically avoids phone to phone interviews and pursues face to face contact with the journalists. With this personalized approach, Matlan became a favorite company among the journalists.
Experiences:
When I did my internship at the world’s largest steel pipe producer, I found out that this company has been visited by a camera team a few months ago. They were producing a documentary for a show on a channel similar to the Discovery Channel. They documented the whole process how raw steel becomes a steel pipe and have of course mentioned some words about the company. The producers of the shoe were happy because they got permission to film within the company, finally having another episode of “The world’s greatest…”, and the company on the other hand was happy that this documentary was also a very positive report about the company, showing the high quality of their products and, the uniqueness of this company, the world’s largest steel pipe producer.
References:
Argenti, Paul A. (2007). Corporate Communication (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill, pp. 111-126.
Argenti, Paul A. (2007). Corporate Communication (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill, pp. 111-126.
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