I have just returned from a 3 day trip to the
Dominican Republic, arriving 24 hours before the national Presidential election, and staying until the day after the election. Being a student of the media, and having an obsession with international politics, I felt the need to consume all media I could on the vote (the amount I could understand in English), visit the candidates campaign headquarters in Santo Domingo (being a
PR pro, I talked my way in), and study campaign paraphernalia.
Some observations:
As an American, no matter where one stands politically, we don’t appreciate the value of a truly free media, and the power of images on an electorate. The first thing which struck me as amazing was over a 24 hour period, institutions were closed (including nearly all restaurants, grocery stores, etc) – All businesses were closed, alcohol wasn’t served anywhere, and the police and military presence was undeniable. In the streets in very large numbers. Simply amazing the power of the election on this country - good, bad or indifferent.
Everyone spoke of media bias, and while neither
CNN,
FOX News,
The Wall Street Journal nor
The New York Times will admit to any bias politically whatsoever (clearly absurd as just as people can’t be completely impartial, neither can media… Fox & the WSJ clearly lean right and are pro-business, and CNN and The NYT lean left and are more liberal), media bias overseas is a completely different animal, with the question of whether media is truly independent. Media in many countries can be bought and a few wealthy families can completely control the entire messages people can hear. In many countries throughout the world.
At 5WPR, we are currently in the midst of a series of very high profile international issues, in Israel, and in the Ukraine. Issues which are major major stories in the local home markets, and stories here in the U.S. Media rules are completely different overseas, with mores of dealing with media completely different, good bad or indifferent. Very important to know and understand local market media when dealing internationally.
And finally, on this near summer Sunday afternoon, I spent the last 3 days back and forth working on a story for a client for a major investigative piece. The
crisis PR world, and dealing with investigative reporters is so much different than day to day PR (and I say this coincidentally 20 minutes after I ran into
Martin Bashir in the gym, with whom I worked closely for another client very recently), and there are a few cardinal rules I believe are implicit when facing a major crisis (and the skills for crisis PR aren’t that much different than the skills or rules for being a criminal defense attorney).
A few quick points:
- Understand that the media is not necessarily your friend. They will do and say what they can to get you to speak. Before you speak, have someone by your side. There’s no such thing as innocent discussion (Have a crisis PR person with you, just as you would have an attorney with you before speaking to the DA or police).
- Respond quickly and accurately. Don’t lie.
- Don’t give an inch – Fight every single point in the hopes that you can convince the reporter not to run the damaging story.
There are many other points we give but I won’t offer here… that’s why people hire us.
Ronn Torossian
5WPR
