Engaging with the Media

In order to bridge and connect with the world of mainstream media, communication theories are useful to explore and gain better knowledge and understanding of who and what PR practitioners are dealing with. In this chapter of the book, it introduces several useful theories such as:

1) agenda-setting theorists believe that journalists and news editors have a set of purpose for what people think about and not what they think. The media decides which issues to gain popularity and prominence in the public and which to be minimised in publicity. It proposes that media is the primary medium that people decide what issues are important to them and what should be talked about.

2) uses and gratification theory states that people have different usage of the media. They have many different ways and reasons for doing so that they actively make their own choices and decisions to suit their requirements without being influenced to any significant extent. Blumler & Katz (1974) identified four areas of gratification: as form of escapism, personal relations for companionship, establishing a sense of personal identity and surveillance to gain greater awareness and understanding of the world around them.

3) spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann 1984) states that people often do not voice out their true intentions and opinions when in a grouped session. They would try to maintain the natural peace of the group, to avoid embarrassment and conflict. This is also similar to 'groupthink' where people reach a same consensus without differing opinions on an issue.

4) two-step flow theory (Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955) says that to reach the intended audiences, public relations practitioners should first convince the opinion makers, the audience listen to and respect via the media they watch, read and listen to.

5) framing theory (Tversky & Khaneman 1981) explains that the way something is presented influences how the audience perceives the topic. This is a manipulative method by used by the media to purposefully disseminate a message behind a certain topic or issue but may not be entirely true.

6) sociological theory and social reality explores the framing theory and explore what is real and what is constructed.

The fact that journalists and the media world relies heavily on PR to fill up pages of their news, it is important to maintain a good relationship and to make use of this position to generate publicity. Some key of success to have a good relation with the media is:

1) have a good relationship with journalists and editors

2) get to know the journalists

3) have updated databases (contacts, networks)

4) know how the news room is organised and how it works

5) develop a media strategy (tweak the news to suit each media and region)

6) identify what is a good piece of news and what is not

7) always meet deadlines

A good media release can help catch the attention of the news world to use your story as theirs. A good example would be the OCD media releases which uses catchy phrases like saving time with a good system and Singapore's first and only. However, it must be subtle in a way not to generate too much hype and must be truthful to be used as a credible story.

McLean and Phillips (2009) identified some aspects to attract the media’s attraction - celebrating anniversaries, writing good media releases, illustrating your stories with great photographs, pitching your release, news conferences, online newsrooms and video news releases.

However, capturing attention could also have negative setbacks and repercussions. PR practitioners are advised by McLean and Phillips (2009) that legal implications such as copyright, defamation, ethical and privacy must be considered and cautiously treaded upon.

Having good relations with the news media will definitely benefit a PR practitioner. Hence, it is always good to deal with the media with careful thought and a warm smile (metaphorically speaking).