Media Relations
I earned my Post-Graduate Certificate in Public Relations at Ryerson University’s Chang School. For over two years at the Bata Shoe Museum, I managed and executed the media relations program, and for three other organizations, I worked closely with their media relations agencies and staff, often developing strategies and key messages together.
Growing a Presence in Media
At the Bata Shoe Museum, I wrote media releases, biographies and backgrounders. I also wrote and pitched story ideas.
I tracked media coverage, liaised with media, hosted media visits, and organized media previews.
My story ideas usually included angles that would be of interest to varied audiences. And instead of relying solely on the Museum’s standard media list, I pitched relevant stories to media outlets who hadn’t previously covered the Museum. This meant several long evenings of Internet research, but it was worth it.
Stunning photographs also helped me generate media attention. Sometimes worth paying for the expertise of a professional photographer who will work with a backdrop and set up the lighting so it’s just right. At the Bata, their contributions greatly helped our media efforts.
We obtained coverage in a number of publications, including international ones, where we had never appeared before.
Tips on working with media
Be prepared
For your day-to-day outreach to media, do your homework and have information, images, and customized story ideas to hand before you call. Online services such as Muck Rack and Cision make it easy to learn journalists’ preferences. Ask them about their deadlines. If you need to get back to a reporter with some answers, let them know when they can expect to hear back.
If you’re organizing a press conference, anticipate challenging questions that reporters might throw your way. Then figure out the best answers to those questions and practice those answers with your main speaker. (And don’t just answer the question. Try to respond in such a way that you can segue into one of your own key messages. This takes practice.)
If your main speaker isn’t used to being in front of media, depending on the importance of the communication you may want to shine bright lights on them and record their responses. This makes it feel more “real”, and you can also review the responses afterwards.
It may happen that media learn of a newsworthy situation before you do. And they may contact anyone they can find in your staff directory, or walking out of your offices, to try and get an unscripted quote. It’s important to train your staff to direct media inquiries to the media relations staff. And you’ll need to think about your organization’s social media policy in this regard.
When you don’t want to be making the news
When things are calm is the time to get ready for when things aren’t calm. News and rumours spread quickly, so you need to develop your crisis communications plan ahead of time.
First, imagine types of emergencies and scenarios which could result in negative coverage for your organization.
For each potential crisis, develop a response plan with the people involved. Some parts of your plan will be feasible for a number of different crises; others will be unique to one scenario. You can’t plan for every eventuality, but here are some general considerations:
What could be the impact(s) of this situation (e.g. reputational damage, business or bottom line impacts)?
Who should be on your response team (it usually includes CEO, legal counsel, and head of PR). Who leads it? Who needs to be contactable 24/7/365?
You need to balance being proactive and disseminating your organization’s message as soon as possible, while sticking to the facts and avoiding speculation.
Identify all the stakeholder groups (e.g. board of directors, employees, customers, local government, media outlets), the order in which they should be informed, what each group should be told, who communicates with each group, and by which channel(s).
What will be the general foundations of the key messages? Who will develop the situation-specific official information from your organization? Who approves it and who disseminates it on which channels?
Some organizations make templates ahead of time, and also prepare a “crisis” version of their homepage which they can make live quickly.
If the crisis has just occurred, you may want to prepare a three-sentence “holding” statement: acknowledge what has happened, state what your organization is doing, and refer people to your website for further information as it emerges.
What’s the process when media contacts you? Identify several people who might need to be the primary and secondary spokespersons and train them ahead of time. How will they be available 24/7 during the crisis?
If you need to call an impromptu press conference, who will arrange the logistics?
Who will monitor and respond to social media gossip? Who will monitor and report on sentiment?
After the crisis, debrief with the response team and capture what you’ve learned for the next time. Also, hold a meeting with your staff so they feel fully in the loop. Leave time for employee questions and request their feedback about how the crisis communications process worked from their perspective.
A RACI chart might be helpful. This lists various actions and names the people who are Responsible, Accountable, who need to be Consulted, and who need to be Informed, for each action.
Make sure your plan is kept up to date and is accessible through several channels. You may also want to organize drills for the crisis communications team.
Crisis communication planning is a considerable investment of time, but if disaster strikes, having this done in advance will allow your team to leap into action.
