PR specialists and media representatives are inseparable, although they often find themselves on different sides of the barricades. The success of business structures, authorities, media personalities and politicians depends directly on the ability to work with the media. For the correct formation of an image and public opinion about a person or organization, it is necessary to "come out of hiding" more often and adopt public ways of communicating with the media.
If you want to work productively with journalists, it is important to have "delicious" information and correctly serve it: constantly warm up interest in the event and feed it with new facts of public significance. According to global statistics, the volume of editorial exclusivity in media coverage does not exceed 15%. The rest of the material is a news agency feed, i.e. an updated and revised newsletter from corporations and authorities. Therefore, focus on daily routine work with the press and personal communication with journalists in an informal setting which will have a positive impact on the effectiveness of your activities. And, of course, don't forget about public events.
The press conference is still an image process and one of the most rapid ways to convey information. Go out into the open when your company is ready for a dialogue with a carefully chosen information occasion. Remember, journalists are willing to go to press conferences, hoping to get a first-hand invoice with detailed and succinct answers, so you need to prepare the most competent (preferably charismatic) managers for the conference. Discuss in what way to give answers to questions that will arise from the press, draft theses that will be used during the speaker's speeches. Please note that a press conference is an unpredictable process. Here you can always see the falseness, excitement and closeness of the participants. The situation may get out of control due to an undesirable question from the audience or provocation from competitors in the form of disclosure of unpleasant facts in front of the audience.
If you still have a serious information occasion and you need a response in the shortest possible time but without too much risk and effort for a press conference and sending a press release to numerous addresses, it is better to organize one exclusive interview but for the leading publication. In this case, you will also not spend time on chaotic "sowing" of the same type of news and after the interview is released, the journalists themselves will "get in line" for the necessary comments to your boss and perhaps invite him to the TV broadcast.
A briefing is the most emotionally stressful form of communication with the media in the form of a short public speech for 15-20 minutes. It is better to keep the briefing within the main points but in emergency situations it may be spontaneous in view of the changing situation. A briefing message is a one-sided brief statement by the head of a firm stating an official position on an issue. The short time frame of the briefing suggests that the moderator can keep the situation under control. As a rule, there is a 7-minute speech in which you should avoid using abbreviations, slang and jargon, even if there is a natural disaster around, since the information can go live. Then there are blitz answers to journalists ' questions. A briefing can also be organized on a "peaceful" occasion. For example, it can be held after the firm has concluded an international contract to tell about the specifics of the transaction and avoid further misinterpretations in the media, because the volume of primary information received will depend on the final result of the long-term work of your company and journalists.
The press tour is a more expensive and time-consuming process, but it is a very effective tool for working with the media. The press tour can take one or several days. To get wide coverage in the press, you need to be able to fit into the concept of publications, TV and radio stations, i.e., to present an event so that it is of media interest: this is usually communication with the company's top management in the form of a direct interview, the joint launch of a new automated line, the laying of a stone, the release of the first batch of products from the conveyor, the announcement of figures and statistics. In the press tour, visual content always comes to the fore (when journalists and participants are invited directly to the objects) which gives comprehensive information and arouses the interest of the press and TV crews. But what to do if you do not have an exclusive for the media, and the press tour has already been announced? Show journalists the backstage of your company, organize a tour of the enterprise and tasting products with a questionnaire, create an information occasion on the ground because you are the master of the situation.
The press tour allows you to selectively invite those journalists and media representatives whom you consider necessary to engage in a confidential dialogue with management and shareholders. In this case, we are talking about close cooperation, since the results of such meetings are expected to be objectively published in the media about the company's activities.
