BRIEFING


WHEN DID THE MEDIA BECOME THE ENEMY?


IT MAY seem a strange question but Twitter is filled with chatter among PR ‘professionals’


suggesting the media is rather too full of its own importance, and that their roles are much broader than simply tending to the needs of a journalist demanding a comment or asking for an update on an ongoing issue. And yet these are usually the same people who - without irony - gush effusively about the MEDIA coverage they have achieved for their client. Nuisances they may be, but there is nothing quite as exciting as seeing the story pitched to a journalist getting a front page display. Undoubtedly, PR professionals


have a wider range of stakeholders to consider than simply the fourth estate. But when their title includes the terms ‘media relations’ or, the increasingly outdated, ‘press officer’,


journalists feel they are on safe ground. But no. A cursory glance at the


‘media relations centres’ on the websites of many leading companies reveals sparse information beyond a phone number or, in some cases, an email address for journalists to contact. When the email generates a We will endeavour to answer all queries within 24 hours response, is it any wonder that journalists start pulling out their hair? I recently rang the press office number of a confectionery company. The call was answered by the plant’s security guard, who told me that everybody was out and he had no way of contacting them. What is this? The early 90s? An associate at the BBC was told rather snootily, when he finally tracked down a press officer at a major organisation, that those journalists who needed the team’s numbers had them. Really? Even those, like him, temporarily covering the beat? The argument for such opacity


is often the problem of nuisance calls or disgruntled customers. And yet RBS [now NatWest Group] has no such qualms, and if ever a company could justify such a stance, it is probably the one. The names, titles and phone numbers of every member of its media relations team are displayed on the bank’s website. The team handles, on average, 90


media calls a week - or more than 4,600 a year - plus (undoubtedly) their own fair share of cranky customers. It is consistently ranked highly by journalists, and last year picked up the CorpComms Award for Best In-house Media Relations Team [more of which is covered inside this issue]. Coincidence? I don’t think so.


At our core, journalists are simple creatures. Having a press office that is easy to contact, open for business and willing to engage can earn our undying loyalty. Perhaps think about that before griping about our ‘outrageous demands’ in the Twittersphere.


Helen Dunne, editor @corpcommsmag


Editor Helen Dunne


Staff writer Laura Stanley


Editorial team Charlotte Beugge Andrew Cave Andrew Holt


Rosie Murray-West Caroline Poynton


Design


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© Hardy Media Ltd 2020. Issue 126


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