By Andrew Gilman
This month, CommCore and PR News are inaugurating the industry's first Spokesperson of the Year Awards. The Awards coincide with the 20th Anniversary of
CommCore. As we recognize spokespersons for their outstanding media communication skills, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what's changed - and stayed the same -
over the past 20 years of media training.
Media Training Circa 1985. Two decades ago, media training was somewhere between infancy and adolescence. Concurrently, the news media was undergoing rapid change - the
rise of the 24/7 news cycle, more technology tools for reporters, and a growth in trade media.
In these early days, the few trained spokespersons were primarily interested in just surviving the interview. In the PR planning process, media training was a novelty and not
an integral component of PR programs. Training focused on studio TV interviews and improving comfort levels, not on a "deep dive" into messages and content. Over time, this has
also become a major goal for spokespersons.
Why the Growth? Media training increased because PR programs and the media were expanding. Businesses, government agencies and associations came to realize that
reaching stakeholders through earned media campaigns was often less costly and had more impact than advertising, direct mail and other communications efforts.
Media training also was fueled by several '80s crises including the Bhopal tragedy, the Exxon Valdez catastrophe, and the Tylenol panic. These crises forced
senior executives into the forefront and required them to prepare to be aggressively grilled for news media interviews. Among the skills needed: How to communicate care and
concern to the public, yet not get trapped into too much speculation as events unfolded. One of my personal highlights was helping Johnson & Johnson executives as they
battled to save a brand and a company.
Are You a "Trained Spokesperson?" It's interesting how issues come full circle. In the early days, journalists frowned upon interviewing a trained spokesperson. Now,
many journalists value well-trained spokespersons - those who are prepared, get to the point, and have substantive messages and sound bites. It makes the journalist's job easier.
One caveat - "spin doctors" who are all hype, lack credible and substantive messages, and all together avoid questions are not valued by the media. In fact, this type of
spokesperson can backfire and ultimately damage a PR program.
Changing Objectives. Over time, news outlets have expanded and companies have become more media-sophisticated. As a result, the objectives for media interviews have
evolved from survival to strategic communication. To that end, media interviews now involve extensive preparation to increase the odds that messages appear in a story.
So what's next? The basics are still the same. Regardless of what changes, five fundamental principles rules of credible media communications hold true:
- Be honest and responsive
- The message matters
- The messenger matters
- Message consistency among media, internal, shareholder and regulatory audiences is critical
- Develop a reputation as a credible information provider and source
Finally, keep an eye on new media. Internet sites, Webcasts and blogs all are impacting media training. Now, PR professionals must monitor more and more outlets - and there is
an increase in news within these outlets that is often incomplete or not accurate. One tactic worth teaching: Be ready to proactively correct an erroneous report. This is one of
the few defenses to a Web search that turns up an inaccurate report that is used by a poorly trained reporter who fails to fact check the damaging information.
Contact: Andrew Gilman, 202.659.4177, [email protected]