There is no dispute that media relations pros routinely strive to get in the good graces of the press. But how common - or rare - is it for the press to seek your good graces or (imagine this) to make amends when their treatment of your company or CEO is less than judicious?
Since the image of the media is at an all-time low, the odds might be improving, sources tell PR NEWS.
Indeed, it used to be that in the marketplace of ideas, the press was less likely to say it hit a foul ball.
But times have changed.
The news industry, without question, has entered into a period of self-analysis. A Spring edition of Editor & Publisher, for example, included a piece by Joe Nicholson headlined "Did The New York Times Get it Wrong About Cancer?"
Now, in an admittedly atypical move, CNBC invited AmeriTrade Chairman and CEO J. Joe Ricketts to return to its "Today's Business" program after technical problems cut short the CEO's Oct. 28 appearance. The interview focused on AmeriTrade's just-announced flat fourth-quarter profits, but the Omaha-based securities broker-dealer was left with an interview which fell flat as well.
Within hours of the broadcast, however, AmeriTrade's PR department was contacted by CNBC producers who invited Ricketts to return as a guest the following day. Due to other business engagements, Ricketts wasn't available, but the CEO agreed to be re-interviewed and he returned nearly a week later.
It was a rare moment - not one that meant much at all to the network's reported 67 million viewers, but a sign that fairness hasn't completely flown the newsroom coop.
Not Par for the Course
"We strive to be fair and to be seen as credible," CNBC Executive Producer David Friend told us last week.
Friend was one of a small team - including Today's Business Anchor Bob Sellers - who was convinced that Ricketts hadn't been given enough time to answer questions and should be invited back. Despite the dozens of guests interviewed every month, Friend said this kind of thing only happens several times a year.
"This was unique," agrees Kate Sansonie, a staffer with Ogilvy Public Relations, an agency outsourced by AmeriTrade. Sansonie wouldn't speak to PR NEWS in detail about how the company perceived the first interview, but she confirmed that it was CNBC which broached the topic of Ricketts returning.
This wasn't the first time the media-trained CEO has faced the cameras to speak about the company's financial footing. Ricketts has enjoyed more than 20 years in the business, a stint that ensures some squeamish limelight time.
What CNBC did likely wouldn't have happened years ago, says Andy Paterson of Global TV, a Canadian operation akin to the Fox network in the U.S. Paterson also is a regional director with the Radio and Television News Directors Association.
"I do think the media is more sensitive today [about how it is perceived] and there are reasons for that. There have been more than just a few cases when the media deserved to get its knuckles wrapped," Paterson says.
Although there is no current market research to back up the media's willingness to admit errors, experts say that recent blunders - from CNN's retraction of a story about military use of nerve gas in Laos in the 1970s to the series of debacles at the Boston Globe - certainly help level the playing field.
"The news industry has always been good about revealing when other people screw up but it hasn't necessarily been good at taking the lumps itself," says E&P's Editor and Senior VP for News Brian Steffens. "Today, the media is becoming a bit more responsive. There is trickle down, all the way from Dan Rather to the Associated Press."
It's not clear when the corner was turned, but early examples of testing media accountability include Food Lion, which had more than its day in the court of public perception when it took on "Primetime Live."
Trading in the Interest of Fairness
If a story is wrong or a media operation doesn't follow through on a promise, this is one time you want to turn to Ma Bell, instead of snail mail or e-mail. Don't initially rely on a paper trail as your mouthpiece, cautions Paterson.
Remember that this is a decade when media outlets hammer out corrections and unprecedented apologies in an environment fueled by the Internet and fiercer competition. In that vein, many are turning the ethics microscope on the media.
It's playing out in some bizarre and peripheral ways. On Friday the 13th, the Council for Media Integrity held an awards ceremony. There, PBS was honored for its "Scientific American Frontiers" series by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. The committee says PBS's coverage helped "denounce" radio host Art Bell's paranormal mystery mongering.
(AmeriTrade, 402/331-7856; E&P, 212/929-1259; Global TV, 506/642-6488; Ogilvy, 312/397-6009)