Posts Tagged ‘media training’

Ryan Gerding

Silence is NOT golden

10.27.10

I talk a lot in my media training sessions on why “No Comment” are the two worst words in media relations. No matter how legitimate your reasons may be, remaining silent rarely makes sense. You look like you’re guilty. You make it seem as though your audience (who will be reading, watching, and listening to the story) doesn’t deserve an answer. And in some cases, your silence makes the story bigger than it needs to be. The latest real-world example of this involves Kevin Yoder, a candidate for Congress in Kansas’ 3rd District.

Yoder has been in the headlines this week because of news that during a 2009 traffic stop, he refused to take a field breathalizer test. He had already passed the field sobriety test and was within his rights to refuse the breathalizer. The consequence is that he was then charged (and pled guilty) to obstructing a DUI investigation. Not exactly his best day, to be sure. And not exactly the kind of story you want to be talking to the media about a week before the election. Yoder was smart and agreed to appear on a news talk radio program this week to talk about the issue. But Yoder was NOT smart to completely ignore and evade a reporter from KMBC, the local ABC affiliate, who met him in the parking lot of that radio station to get his comments on the story. Watch the video for yourself…

It’s cringe-worthy. For 33-seconds, Yoder is silent while the reporter is chasing him. What’s ridiculous is that Yoder was on his way in to a radio station to talk live on the air about the very topic he was refusing to talk about with the TV reporter. Now, instead of offering a concise statement to the camera, Yoder created 33-seconds of video gold that KMBC promoted all night long. Every tease and promo that KMBC ran that evening showed their reporter chasing after Yoder. Does it matter that Yoder DID talk about this issue with the radio station? No. Does it matter that he may very well have a reasonable explanation for refusing to take the breathalyzer? Absolutely not. What mattered here was the video of a reporter chasing down a political candidate who was awkwardly refusing to talk.

If Yoder had taken 20-seconds and given the TV reporter a quick statement, this story would have died down much quicker, it would have been given much less time during the newscast, and it wouldn’t have been promoted ALL NIGHT LONG. In TV, the visuals make the story. And this visual made the story bigger than it had to be.

Categories: Behind INK, Behind the scenes, pr marketing

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Ryan Gerding

Sure, Blame the PR Guy

06.22.10

The saying goes that in war, the first casualty is truth.  And when it comes to embarrassing or unflattering media coverage, the first casualty is usually the PR guy.

At least that’s the case in the current dustup over a Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal, the US Commander in Afghanistan.  The profile, titled “The Runaway General” portrays McChrystal and his subordinates as derisive toward Obama administration officials.

Hours after word of the story got out to the national media, McChrystal’s press aide resigned.  From today’s Washington Post

Duncan Boothby, who has been on McChrystal’s staff for roughly a year, was the first casualty of a controversy that prompted White House officials to summon the general to the White House to explain the remarks in the profile that will appear in this week’s issue of Rolling Stone.

Boothby was heavily involved in arranging access for journalist Michael Hastings to McChrystal and his staff this year so Hastings could write the profile, titled “The Runaway General.”

Aside from having a name that sounds like the evil fraternity guy in a Revenge of the Nerds film, I think the only thing Mr. Boothby is guilty of is doing exactly what he was asked to do.  Sure, he may have arranged for the journalist to have access to McChrystal and his staff.  And at the time, he probably got a pat on the back for what could have been a pretty substantial profile.

But ol’ Boothby didn’t do the interviews.  He wasn’t the one criticizing the administration.  That was McChrystal and his aides.  Did they not think that the things they said–over and over–to a journalist writing an article for Rolling Stone might actually, you know, show up in the article in Rolling Stone?  Didn’t they see the reporter scribbling furiously with pen and paper as they ridiculed their Commander In Chief and his representatives?  When we do media training sessions for our clients, we make it pretty clear that NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD.  If you say it anywhere near a reporter or a microphone, expect that it will be reported.  Just ask Carly Fiorina.

Now, should the PR guy have noticed when the things being said before the reporter were inflammatory? Yes. Should the PR guy have directed the conversations–and there appeared to be many–away from disparaging the administration? Without question. In that regard, the PR guy failed his client.

But blaming the PR guy for this fiasco is like blaming the guy who sold you your car when you get a speeding ticket.

Categories: Behind the scenes

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Ryan Gerding

All the World’s a Stage (including the backdrop)

02.27.10

Much has been written in the Washington Post about the public relations challenges facing SeaWorld in Orlando after a killer whale attacked and killed a trainer during a show there earlier this week.  I’ll leave it to others to debate the merits of SeaWorld’s response and whether it really made sense to resume the killer whale shows so soon after such a tragic event.  My nit to pick has to do with the staging of Friday’s news conference announcing the resumption of the shows and the creation of a memorial fund in honor of the trainer who died. More…

Categories: pr marketing

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