Working with the media
4th Jun 2010
"Last week's debacle over No.10 refusing to put a government minister on BBC's Question Time because they objected to the presence of Alistair Campbell is an extreme and high profile example of how media handling can sometimes backfire.
Good media relations involves:
- Research to make sure your argument has legs and is backed by evidence and case studies
- A knowledge of who in the media might be interested and why
- Making sure you've got all the material a journalist needs to hand ... and that it's relevant
- Persuasiveness and creativity in getting your message across
- Ability to stay on the phone for long periods of time
All of these ingredients are essential. But for us the most important is also a common sense understanding of the culture, policies and needs of the outlets you're seeking to get your message across through. Otherwise, at the very least journalists might ignore (or even laugh!) at you. Or, at the very worst, it will rub journalists up the wrong way and - as No.10 saw last week - may backfire in a spectacular fashion."