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The Bonner
media relations
Communications Series
allan bonner
Sextant Publishing
Copyright © 2004 by Allan Bonner
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or any information storage and retrieval system without a licence from Access Copyright, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5E 1E5
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Bonner, Allan
Media relations / Allan Bonner ; Hal Jones, editor ;
Patricia Cipolla, illustrator.
(The Bonner communication series) Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0973113421
1. Public relations. 2. Mass media and business.
I. Jones, Hal II. Title. III. Series: Bonner, Allan
Bonner communication series.
| HD59.B65 2004 | 659.2 | C20049038273 |
SOCKO® is a registered trademark of Allan Bonner Communications
Management Inc.
Sextant Publishing
10080 Jasper Avenue NW
Empire Building
Suite 208
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 1V9
For Lorna, Michael and Christian
Praise for
ALLAN BONNER’S
MEDIA RELATIONS
“Allan Bonner’s wide experience as a broadcaster and consultant makes this a valuable handbook to understanding the media. It deals clearly and concisely with everything you need to know when you find yourself in the news spotlight…from organizing the press conference, to getting your message across, to answering the tough questions. Essential and Insightful.”
– LLOYD ROBERTSON,
CTV NEWS
“Bonner has taken the mystery, and I expect the fear, out of media interviews with this informative tome. By telling the reader in no uncertain terms what the reporter expects, he is making our job as a journalist all the easier. It’s a must read for anyone who has to deal with the print, radio or television media.”
– HAROLD LEVY,
THE TORONTO STAR
“Truly, a university class in media relations. It’s a must read reference source for large and small businesses, governments, schools, and nonprofits. Bonner knows what he is talking about, telling the secrets that make dealing with the media easier and more productive.”
– JOE BATES,
KVOS TV
“This is an entertaining, commonsense analysis of the right and wrong ways to deal with the media, by a writer who knows his subject intimately and has the war stories to prove it.”
– WARREN CLEMENTS, MEMBER OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD,
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“A simple but allencompassing guide for those plunged into dealing with the media… The book is a valuable resource.”
– HARVEY SCHACHTER, COLUMNIST,
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Foreword
My media relations experience began in the media. I was the recipient of news releases, pitches and complaints on a daily basis for 14 years. I found that many people who called me hadn’t thought past the phrase “I think I have a good story for you” when they wanted me to cover something. They also hadn’t thought past “that’s not news” when they wanted me to kill a story.
I also found that few newsmakers had a clear, powerful message to deliver. Most sounded guilty of something. It was years before I realized that many people are just nervous of the media. That’s when I decided there was room in the marketplace for a course on media relations and media training.
I left the media to join a big city mayor as Executive Assistant. He was always in the news. You may have heard of him — Mel Lastman — one of the longest serving mayors in North America. There’s no secret to his success. He got up every day, bound, determined and even possessed to make news. He also made it his business to understand how radio stations, newspapers and TV stations work. I moved on from Mayor Lastman a few years later, but continue to watch his determination from afar.
Another experience which has shaped this book is conducting media relations and media training courses on five continents for some of the toughest clients in the world. When I make speeches I often ask for a show of hands to tell me who’s been in a newsroom in the previous month. Then I ask who has visited a newsroom in the previous quarter or even in the last six months. I often find Public Affairs practitioners who have rarely been in newsrooms.
My goal here is to share with you what I’ve learned during a quarter of a century of work on both sides of the media divide. Many of the problems people have with the news media stem from a lack of knowledge about its role, its interests and motives and its workings.
This book is designed to be a handy reference for those who feel threatened by the attention of the news media, or those who feel they have a story to tell but are being ignored. It contains detailed, stepbystep advice on how to prepare for media encounters, from an unexpected “ambush” interview to a fullscale news conference and then how to follow through and maintain good media relations.
It actually began as a series of lectures to about 1,000 senior military officers across Canada. They were having a tough time getting their story told around the end of the Cold War and I was hired to give them some tools that would work. Then clients in oil and chemicals asked for tough simulations after the Valdez and Bhopal incidents and those assignments honed my knowledge as well.
Work with a great series of clients from the Government of Hong Kong to the UN in New York and from the World Trade Organization in Geneva to the NAFTA negotiating team in Canada allowed me to test my theories out in real time, real life and under real heat.
The book starts by helping you assess your own news value and leads you through the preparation you must undertake before you go anywhere near a reporter. Both the preparation and your actual encounters will be guided by my SOCKO system for key messages.
As your media needs grow, you will find ever more detailed content available — even down to the trash cans needed (but often forgotten) when setting up a temporary public affairs or media work room. Interspersed throughout are templates you can use to organize and keep track of your media relations.
I’m indebted to many people. Chief among them are my two boys, Michael and Christian, and my wife, Lorna Jackson. They endured my travel schedule for many years and have also heard me rehearse many a speech before delivery and pointed out errors and omissions. Michael has helped with semantics, of which he is a master.