Media Relations

"Everyone in public relations knows that good publicity is the best advertising. A well placed article, a positive radio show or the right interview on TV are all what good publicists and media relations people dream about. It’s what clients hire public relations firms for. The media relations department is one of the most critical areas within the corporate communication function. It is a constituency as well as a conduit through which investors, suppliers, retailers, and consumers get their information about companies through the media. The media takes the role of a disseminator of information to a firm's key constituencies, and its importance has increased over the last years. "

The NEWS media are omnipresent in our society. With the advent of television and the tremendous growth of internet, what had once being the domain of the print medium in newspapers increasingly had become part of the visual realm through television sets and computers. The expanded media are a powerful part of society. A free press also makes politicians accountable for their actions in both public and private life. Even they argue that media bring the distant world of politics into the home of average citizen.

Increased public and media interest have a profound effect on business and its dealings with the media. Companies are slowly realizing that how important it is to have good relations with the media. Companies have learnt that having poor or nonexistent relations with media will only make them worse.

"As the public attitudes are changing, the business news sections in newspapers is expanding and gaining recognition. The main goals of the media relations are to create, maintain, and protect the organization’s reputation, to enhance its prestige, and to present a favorable image. Media relation involves product, public, employee, financial, community, government and political relations, consumer education, and crisis communication. "

Organizations are realizing the importance of media, and hence need to build strong relations with it. To build better relationships with members of media, organizations must take the time to cultivate relationships with the right people in the media. There are various types of media, news, press releases, PR, choosing the right kind of journalist. These days’ corporations prefer on choosing only one right kind of journalist. In the field cluttered with information coming from a variety of sources, however, this is the best approach.

Not only building; maintaining relationship with media is equally important. A company can not simply turn the relationship on and off, as and when the crisis is there or not. To build a successful Media Relations Program, the following things should be considered:

• Involve Media Relations Personnel in Strategy
• Develop In-House capabilities
• Use Outside Counsel Sparingly

6 tips to building better relationships with the media:

• Identify who you are and why you are calling.
• Ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn’t, ask the reporter to suggest the best time you should call back. Never ask a reporter to return your call. If it is a good time to talk, proceed to the next step.
• Let the reporter know you are familiar with the publication or with stories she writes about.
• Explain the idea in a sentence or two.
• Explain quickly why readers will care.
• Ask if the reporter is interested.

A good example of how media should be tackled is the Coors controversy with the media when they were faced with a huge corporation communication challenge; The Coors Company heard about reporter Mike Wallace’s plans to do a documentary for his network’s news program, “60 Minutes”. Coors then found out that the program is characterized as "providing a blend of hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news". This statement offered some information about the style of a possible interview and story to the company according to which they had prepared for the interview.

While doing my project in Kirloskar, I had seen that the company invited the media to do interviews with them. This helps them spread out the word about their vision, mission, objectives, policies, products, services etc. to their constituencies.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations
http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/