Sunday, August 9, 2020

Press Events

Events for the press are always tricky undertakings. On the one hand, you want to have a message or information to share that is substantial enough to warrant the attention of the press. On the other, you want to put together an activity that peaks their interest enough for them to want to send out cameras and photographers as well as actual reporters. And to top all that off, how well the organizers do can have a serious impact on their credibility. If what they do is judged to be too hokey, then you can bet electronic and print media will be relunctant to give you the coverage you may wish in the future. (This points to an important and relavent truism: the press has a long memory.) There are some entities that can get away with putting together shoddy events cause they know the press will give them the attention they desire. The best example, of course, is The White House. But even that has its limits. Television networks have been known to cut-off their coverage in midstream if they deem an event to be more of an attempt to generate publicity rather than share hard news. Some may call such actions on the part of the press to be cyncial. I view it as the press simply doing their job. To avoid such action requires a level of respect for the press on the part of those putting together these types of events. Press officers, to be any good, must bring to the table a deep and unshakeable apppreciation of and respect for the press. No exceptions. Anything less is arrogence and border-line contempt not just for reporters but folks on the receiving end of what men and women of the press report as well. Reporters pick up on this kind of attitude as well and it makes for poor relations between press agents and the press itself. All this is why any and all press events require serious thought.

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