Engaging with the Media

Missed readings #4

As public relations practitioners, we have to be able to work with the media in order to make our company and our clients well known. This is part of our job scope and since the media is a powerful and influential tool, it is likely to help practitioners to publicise their company and clients. This chapter discuss about the different communication theories, advantages and disadvantages of engaging with the media.

There are numerous communication theories such as, Agenda setting theorists, uses and gratification theorists, spiral of silence theory, two-step flow theory, framing theory and sociological theory and social reality (McLean and Phillips, 2009). I will elaborate on one of these theories as some of them are familiar to me. Thus I will elaborate on the spiral silence theory because it is new to me and I think it sounds interesting as well.

The spiral silence theory states that when in a group, people will tend to agree with the majority as they are afraid to speak up if they have an opposing opinion since the majority agrees on something else (Neumann, 1984). Thus, if the media gives the impression that majority of people are in agreement with a course of action, everyone will likely to follow it and not oppose it (Neumann, 1984). Thus, organisation under pressure about issues should find supporters within the media who are willing to stand up for what is right despite it being a majority or not and people will most likely to follow it as the media is a powerful and influential tool (Neumann, 1984). I agree with this as people are likely to follow the crowd and having the media on your side could definitely do you and your company a lot of good as people are willing to follow whatever they see or hear in the media.

It is essential to write a proper media release in order to gain the support of the media as they will be media gatekeepers such as the editors who sieve out the good and the bad press releases before publishing it. Thus, it is important to write something that is eye-catching and truthful at the same time. An example would be the OCD Company which wrote media releases that caught the attention of the editors. The company used words such as ‘Singapore’s first and only company’ which immediately catches editors’ attention and intrigues them to read further on. Thus, this is a good media release strategy.

There are some important aspects that lead to success. They are, building relationships with journalists and editors, getting to know journalists, having up-to-date databases, knowing how newsrooms are organised, developing a media strategy, knowing what is news and what is not, and finally the most important aspect would be ALWAYS meeting with your datelines (McLean and Phillips, 2009). I agree with theses aspects especially the meeting with your datelines with media releases as you would not want to keep the editors waiting and get on the wrong side of them as they will be able to write untrue stories that sound very believable about your company. Thus, it is very important that you meet you dateline and a good way to meet with your dateline would be to not promise anything that you cannot do.

Tools to attracting the media’s attraction would be, celebrating anniversaries, writing good media releases, illustrating your stories with great photographs, pitching your release, news conferences, online newsrooms and video news releases (McLean and Phillips, 2009). These are just some of the many tools to attract the media’s attention so that you are able to publicise your company with a limited budget as the media would promote you.

However, there are some things that practitioners have to beware of when writing media releases. They have to be weary of copyrighting, defamation, legal and ethical issues and privacy considerations (McLean and Phillips, 2009). These not only ensure practitioners security but also minimises the media’s attention from noticing the bad point of the firm. I agree with this as the media is a watchdog and is able to catch whiff of any bad yet interesting news from companies as bad news does attracts the public attention as long as the spotlight is not on them. Thus, practitioners have to be very careful of what they write.

In conclusion, I found this reading interesting yet repetitive as I have learnt some of the terms in my other modules and in previous readings as well. Thus, it actually makes me understand the reading fully. Furthermore, throughout all the readings that I have read so far, I realised that I am not only building up on my knowledge of PR but also developing life skills that will be useful for me in future when I enter this field of work.

signing off,

nivitra