Chapter 16 working with the media

In Lundgren and McMakin’s (2004), the range of media participation was explained as follows; (1) reporting existing information, (2) influencing the way an issue is portrayed, (3) independently brining an issue to the public’s attention or restricting its coverage, and (4) proposing solutions to a risk-related decision, including taking a stand on an issue. Because of the media’s powerful effect on the formation of public’s opinions and attitudes, media’s roles are very important for the organization or the company. However, the media’s power increases during a time of crisis. In times of conflict, the media’s responsibility for independent and pluralistic reporting becomes more important than normal circumstances. Accordingly, particularly during a crisis, crisis managers and public relations practitioners significantly increase their role of news framing because public opinions tend to change their opinion very easily from negative to positive or from positive to negative depending on news framing.

In media relations, crisis managers should understand and respect the importance of deadline for journalists. Managers should prepare messages and materials carefully, and put messages in terms the reporter’s audience can understand. Timing and accuracy are important in releasing information to the public through the media. Crisis managers should not say “no comment,” because it will cause many audiences to interpret an assumption of guilt on the part of the organization. Those above guidelines are basic media relations guidelines for public relations practitioners. Public relations practitioners try to build a good relationship with journalists. In real world, keeping a good relationship with journalists sometimes means the able public relations practitioners. However, I strongly hope that public relations practitioners focus more a managerial role than a technician role, which is usually media relations. A managerial function has more diverse and significant power than a technician function. This is in the same context that Lundgren and McMakin (2004) mentioned, “Though media involvement can be a very powerful voice in the ultimate outcome of risk issues, media organizations’ responsibility in a decision-making process usually does not extend past proposing solutions (p. 274).” Crisis managers should keep in mind that media’s role is limited to deliver the message and affect the public’s and society’s opinions. Media cannot solve the problem. Too much dependency on media or the positive media coverage, itself, does not mean a successful crisis management.