Today I’m presenting a media training session at Mission Services here in London. They’ve asked me to come and talk to them about how to talk to the media. We are a necessary evil to organizations and it helps everyone on both sides if we know what we’re dealing with.
Some of what I will say will paint some media in a less than flattering light. Our budgets are tight. Sometimes we have to send inexperienced journalists to cover complicated stories. Some of us (myself not included) will tell you that a tidbit of information is off the record when that doesn’t really exist. If it’s juicy we will follow up on it even as we do protect our original source. And there are writers with our city’s main newspaper who will do anything – and I mean anything – to get their stories on the front page.
But I will also push the wisdom of an organization speaking with one voice and giving a consistent message. Some places think they can allow anybody to pick up the phone and answer a reporter’s questions and that is simply foolish. There are dozens of other details and examples I will cover in my talk today. I look forward to helping bridge the gap between “us and them” for this terrific organization that does wonderful work for our city’s most vulnerable people. This is a part of what Lisa Brandt Creative Services does. It’s not full of bells and whistles but it’s credible, tangible, practical information that they can use going forward and dealing with the necessary evil of media.