How the media  get even

Excellence by association

Prince Harry dons Nazi uniform
for costume party
Prince Harry, 20, showed up on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at a costume party in a Nazi-style uniform complete with a swastika, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The picture appeared in London’s tabloid newspaper The Sun 

Then the New York Times ran this photo of the Sun front page, in front of Buckingham Palace.

Clearly, Harry is not the brightest star in the royal firmament. Although he has apologized for his poor taste and lack of judgment, he has outraged Jewish groups around the world.

1. Not all "news holes" are good. Not to make light of the almost 150,000 victims of the tsunami, but the story has been covered from a multitude of angles by every news organization in the world. We have witnessed unimaginable suffering as well as stories of incredible bravery. More than two weeks later, it is time to move on. This means that there is a news hole for other stories; transitions can be tricky.
2. Beware of timing. What came before? What comes after? In this case, Holocaust Memorial Day is January 27 and the Queen who was surely "not amused" by Harry’s antics will participate in these ceremonies.
   
   About eight years ago, I had many discussions in a large Canadian organization on what I thought was a "no brainer": why it was a BAD idea to announce Same Sex Medical and Dental Benefits on April 1—April Fool’s Day. Frequently, the role of PR is to point out the obvious.
3. When public figures do silly things, news organizations rejoice. Every editor’s and producer’s dream: a great story, with a large audience, with hardly any effort.

When I picked up my copy of The Globe and Mail, the Reuters syndicated photo of George Bush against a duotone red-and-black backdrop (festive enough to start us thinking of the Christmas season, no less!) with Roosevelt and Churchill, I chuckled. And Bush’s handlers even colour-coordinated his suit and tie to blend in nicely with the backdrop.

This is a prime example of what I call "excellence by association."         ... More 

In other words, get your picture taken with great leaders and the implication is that you, too, are a great leader.

While I’m not opposed to using theatrics and backdrops such as this one to drive home a Key Message for any organization or government, this technique usually works best if it’s a stretch—and not complete science fiction.

Roosevelt and Churchill have earned world leader stature both by their actions and their words. And their leadership has withstood the test of time and the chroniclers of history. The most we can say about George Bush so far is: "the Jury’s still out on how history will judge him."

Nevertheless, the technique of using backdrops for photo ops (at Annual General Meetings, the release of quarterly results, and other major organization announcements) is an effective one. It gives PR professionals a great visual—something that newspapers are always looking for. So, it’s O.K. to stage stuff and send it in to your newspaper.

"What is wrong with everyone nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities?

This comment made by Prince Charles in a memo emerged Wednesday at an employment tribunal hearing where a former personal assistant in Charles' office, Elaine Day, claimed unfair dismissal. She also claimed sexual harassment by the prince's assistant private secretary, Paul Kefford.

The memo, which was read aloud at the tribunal, was written in reply to Day's suggestion that personal assistants with university degrees should be given the opportunity to train to become private secretaries—a more senior position within the royal household.

More excerpts from Prince Charles’ memo:

1. Photos speak louder than words. The Globe and Mail chose to use a large, colour file photo from Getty Images of Prince Charles playing polo—the sport of the rich and famous—to further reinforce the point that he’s elitist, old-fashioned, and out of touch with "common folk."

2. If you don’t want a paper trail, don’t write it down. It seems obvious, but letters and e-mail, although intended for one recipient, can be sent to anyone, anywhere, anytime. And what doesn’t leak can be subpoenaed.

3. PR people cannot control the behaviour of others. The more senior a person is, the more difficult it is for PR people to control his or her behaviour. This is a glitch in the 5-year PR plan that was put in place by Buckingham Palace after the death of Princess Diana to turn around Prince Charles’ negative public image.

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Remember the mantra of all media training for executives in the 1980s? "Just get your three Key Messages out. You’ve got a live microphone, a TV camera and an audience. Never mind what the reporter’s question is!" The result of these "conversations" is predictable: disjointed and confusing.

Frustrated anchors and reporters at all the major Canadian and US networks are pushing back on over media-trained corporate executives. Increasingly, I’m hearing: "That’s fine Mr. X or Ms. Y, but you didn’t answer my question. My question once again is …."

Here are the new rules of media relations, as I see them:

1. Just answer the question.
   Answer the question that was asked by the reporter. Don’t deflect. Don’t fudge. Don’t obfuscate. Otherwise, you risk alienating the reporter and in some ways insulting the viewer. Have a conversation that makes sense.
   
   This means more work for media relations professionals. They need to figure out what the likely questions will be, then figure out what the organization and the executive are prepared to say on those subjects. In particularly sticky situations, media relations people need to confer with the legal team to figure out what can be said without compromising the organization’s position. It gets complicated.
   
   Of course, if you find that you won’t be able to answer most of a reporter’s questions, it is better to pass on the interview. However,…
   
2. You can run, but you can’t hide.
   To a large degree, media relations is like a savings account: you make regular deposits in the Bank of Goodwill. This allows you to make withdrawals occasionally, if the organization goes through difficult times. The media might cut you some slack, but only for a short while. Ultimately, who can defend your organization if not your executives?
   
3. Your three Key Messages are still important.
   Work your Key Messages into the conversation; don’t have your executives blurt them out at the earliest opportunity. Again, this means more skill for media relations practitioners; more rehearsals for executives.
   
4. Return phone calls faster than ever before.
   E-mail and cell phones make it easier than ever for a reporter to get a source—and sometimes any source will do. There is always someone who is only too happy to take your place in the limelight. But the question is: will that help or hurt your organization’s position? If you want to be quoted, be available; if your organization has a news story "in play," be on stand-by, all day and all night. It’s a 24 hour news cycle.
   
5. Relationships, relationships, relationships.
   The paradox of the Internet, Google, e-mail, cell phones, and Blackberries is that personal relationships among media relations professionals, executives and reporters are more important than ever.

Your organization and its executives need to build reputations with reporters as credible and accessible sources. Here are some ways to cultivate relationships with reporters:

• Establish your organization’s executives as subject matter experts by sending useful pieces of information to reporters: short pieces, with passages highlighted.
• Send reporters stuff even if there is not an article that will feature your executives.
• Introduce reporters to other potentially useful sources.
• Reporters love feedback on their articles; provide insight when you comment on a reporter’s specific article.

Friday, September 24 , 2004

I am always amazed at how many organizations miss the opportunity to tell their story in pictures in addition to words, or at least have a decent accompanying photo.

Today, communication departments seems to sweat the content at nauseum (ever notice how a simple news release or brochure can go through 17 sets of changes?), but somehow most organizations have forgotten about photography.

Some of the reasons I’ve heard from organizations as to why photography has been abandoned include:

1. "Words are more important than pictures."
2. "Our photos don’t get used."
3. "We don’t have the time."
4. "It’s a lot of bother."
5. "It’s expensive."

For me, these are the effects, rather than the causes, of insufficient thinking about and planning for photography for a brochure, an annual report, a newsletter article or a news release. Or a web site.

Here are some ways to help turn your thinking about photography inside out:

Pictures have been around longer than words. Prehistoric man drew pictures on the sides of caves in Lescaux, France 40,000 years before the earliest writing. In fact, Egyptian hieroglyphics are based on pictographs. Early languages such as Cuneiform, Linear B and Sanskrit subsequently used symbols rather than pictures, early precursors of today’s modern alphabets.

Visuals are more important than ever and every organization can leverage them to great advantage. The job of the photo is to get people to read the story.

Fashion is an industry entirely dependent on photography, both stills and film. Music is no longer just for the ear, but has a huge visual component in music videos. Today, some organizations spend the equivalent of the GDP of small countries on branding everything from candy bars to fancy cars.

Today, photography is more important than ever precisely because of the Internet. Each of us is now a skimmer, not a reader. A good photo accompanying a news story, for example, or a good shot on a brochure cover screams: "Read me, now!" A photo will increase attention on what you’re promoting or selling, and therefore increase the likelihood your story will get read.

It seems like a blinding flash of the obvious: What do you want the photo to communicate? If photography is an after thought, or if not a lot of thought goes into it in the first place, the results are predictable: "garbage in, garbage out." Really think about what you’re communicating. This is hard work. Explore several ideas before you settle on the final one.

3/ Other useful tips:

• What is the most important idea or concept you’re trying to promote or sell?
• Can this story be expressed with one idea, and therefore one visual concept or photo?
• If not, what aspect of the idea best lends itself to photography? [Sometimes, an illustration might be a better option than a photo.]
• The concrete and the specific beats an abstract every time.
• If you can incorporate people in the concept, so much the better. People always like looking at pictures of other people.
• Don’t discount the category of "PR stunts." The Cheese Boutique, a popular deli in Toronto’s trendy Bloor West Village, rolled a 200-lb wheel of Parmesan from Bloor Street to announce the move to its new location on Ripley Street six years ago. The shot made it into the community newspaper. Wasn’t that cheesy? Exactly.
• Differentiate your photo.

Everyone is looking for the unique, the special, the different. News editors have hundreds of photos to choose from daily, and they want interesting ones. Boring photos don’t get used. End of story.

But if you put in some effort to differentiate your photos, they stand a very good chance of being published. You can even do this with cliché shot:

• Ribbon-cutting: for the opening of a daycare, have the toddlers do the ribbon-cutting with kiddie scissors. For a garden centre, have a large pair of hedge shears. For a hospital, have surgeons dressed in hospital greens use forceps or scalpels…. You get the idea.
• Ground-breaking ceremonies: forget the gold-plated shovel. Instead, rent one of those tiny Mitstubishi diggers and put your VIP in it. Or, rent an auger from Home Depot and have your whole executive team hold it in position as it breaks the ground. Hard hats and safety boots required.
• Cheque presentations: ditch the giant cheque in favour of a large paper-maché piggy bank with the amount of its contents written in big letters on its side. Or, get a wheelbarrow full of change with a caption: "$2,000 in change, just a portion what Consolidated Diversified Inc. is donating for XX cause." Or, better yet, use a photo of what the money will be used for [computer equipment, food for the homeless, clothing to keep kids warm in winter, etc.]
• Corner stone unveiling or building dedication: have your VIP put the final stone in place with the trowel and mortar, with a stone mason helping. (I always thought those little curtains or drapes set up in the middle of no where were really out of place.)
• Award presentations: go for a tight head shot of the winner alongside (above, below or side by side) with the actual award. This is better than those medium-length shot of the winner, with several hangers-on. Focus on who won the award; this might be a formal, studio portrait, with the actual award in the background.

This consists of two parts: show editors what is available in thumbnail photos via e-mail. Next, give them the exact URL address on your website where they can download photos with resolutions they need.

People love looking at pictures of those they know and those they don’t know. Captions always get high readership. So, list each person in your photo with (correct spellings and titles) for news editors. If professional communicators don’t do this, news editors don’t have the time. The photo may run, with an obscure caption that will not acknowledge all your people.

Wednesday, September 14 , 2004

Five ways to make your website 
work harder

Other than building signage, delivery trucks and business cards, the main "storefront" or public persona for your organization is your website. It is now expected that anyone in business has a website—and most organizations do.

There is a world of difference between those that just "do" and those that "do them well." Here are five ways to make your website work harder for your organization:

1. Keep your website current. This seems a blinding flash of the obvious, but there are a surprising number of websites that have been created and then abandoned. The last time they were updated was sometime in July 2002. In Internet time, that’s the equivalent of when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Flag new items as such, or better yet, put them right on the Home Page. First rule of journalism: don’t bury the lead.
2. Give your public a reason to come back. Something new is good, but something new that’s topical and that people can use, or better yet, act upon is even better. Industry-specific commentary or insight, with a "to-do" or "how-to" list is useful.
3. Include names, addresses and e-mail of your contact people. Many websites don’t contain addresses let alone e-mail links to specific people in your organization. Frequently, it is impossible to tell if an organization is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio or Brussels, Belgium. Like voicemail, your website can be an anonymous front for your organization, but guess what: people like to know who they might be doing business with and where those people are located.
4. Include photos of your people. Many websites don’t feature any photos of people—anywhere. The ones that do typically use stock photography. While models may be better looking (and have better haircuts), they aren’t the real people that help drive your organization. Besides, using photos of real employees is a wonderful employee communications opportunity that many organizations miss.
5. Don’t give in to mediocre graphic standards. Many websites are over-designed. Others are so stringent about adhering to their graphic standards that communication and graphics are working at cross-purposes. Images are blurry, headlines are too small, and body copy is way too small for the target audience to read. The intent of the website is to communicate with your public, so make it easy for them. If you make it hard for them, your prospects or publics rightly assume than you aren’t in tune with their needs.

The PEW Research Center for the People and the Press
The Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. We are best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for our polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes. 
http://people-press.org/

The Media Center (at the American Institute)
The Media Center helps individuals and organizations worldwide acquire intelligence and apply insight into the future role and use of media and enabling technology.
http://www.mediacenter.org/

The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA)
The Center for Media and Public Affairs is a nonpartisan research and educational organization which conducts scientific studies of the news and entertainment media. MPA election studies have played a major role in the ongoing debate over improving the election process. Our continuing analysis and tabulation of late night political jokes provides a lighter look at major news makers. CMPA is one of the few groups to study the important role the media plays in communicating information about health risks and scientific issues.
http://www.cmpa.com/

MediaChannel
MediaChannel is a media issues supersite, featuring criticism, breaking news, and investigative reporting from hundreds of organizations worldwide. As the media watch the world, we watch the media.
http://www.mediachannel.org/

Columbia Journalism Review (CJR)
CJR was founded in 1961 to "assess the performance of journalism in all its forms; to call attention to its shortcomings and strengths; to help define and refine the standards of honest, responsible service; to help stimulate continuing improvement in the profession; and to speak out for what is right, fair and decent."
http://www.cjr.org/

Tons more resources at:
http://www.newswatch.org/

What program? The rules of photography of newspapers:

1/ Newspapers need photography to add visual interest to the layout.

2/ Sometimes, the photo is interesting but has nothing to do with the story. This is the case today: the photo is of Scotiabank CEO Richard Waugh holding a gold bar worth $215,000. Why is this interesting? Other than in James Bond films, most people have not seen a gold bar let alone hold one.

The story is actually about merger rules for banks. The photo caption and the very last paragraph of the story mention that "ScotiaMocatta, a subsidiary, is one of four London-based banks that meet twice daily to set the benchmark value for gold. It will hold the chairman’s role for a year."

3/ The decision to use a photo is made by the layout editor, not the reporter who filed the story. Again, if the photo is interesting, it will probably run.

4/ Either supply a newspaper with an interesting photo or make sure there's interesting props and backgrounds if the newspaper sends a photographer to you.  Provide, or help to set up, a great picture, and it stands a good chance of dominating the page.