Handling The Media in Contentious Situations

Transcription

1 Handling The Media in Contentious Situations Millicent Danker Founder & CEO March 18, 2008

2 The Brief You & The Media Dealing with Media Demands Tools & Techniques to avoid pitfalls & improve company reputation

3 You & The Media

4 Brief History The oldest, largest media institution: The New Straits Times Group; its flagship paper, The New Straits Times, was first established in July 15, 1845 and is believed to be among the oldest newspaper titles in the world The broadsheet New Straits Times was the leading national newspaper in English until 1997 when its daily circulation was overtaken by The Star, a tabloid first established in 1971 Readership of the English dailies has declined in favour of the vernaculars; Harian Metro is the fastest-growing paper in the country with a circulation of nearly 250,000 The Utusan Malaysia (210,000) was published in 1938 as the first vernacular newspaper Berita Harian, born in 1957, enjoys a circulation of the same The mainstream Chinese newspapers, six in all, claim a combined daily circulation of more than 1 million Malaysia s own national news agency, Bernama, began operations in 1968 Television made its debut in Malaysia in the early 60s

5 Key Media Issues Government-influenced; organized, like government, along party lines Highly supportive of the national agenda Sometimes used to discredit individuals and institutions Skills shortages, poor language competency Print media much more developed in content, electronic media less so TV widely used for propaganda; radio entertains

6 Mainstream Press 4 English Morning Dailies (The Star, The New Straits Times, The Sun, Malay Mail) 4 Bahasa Morning Dailies (Harian Metro, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo!) 6 Chinese Morning Dailies (Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Guang Ming, Kwong Wah Yit Poh, Nanyang Siang Pau, Oriental Daily) 2 Tamil Dailies (Tamil Nesan, Malaysia Nanban) Sunday Editions of the above A Weekly Financial Newspaper (The Edge)

7 Electronic Media Radio: RTM (32 stations) AMP/ASTRO (8 terrestrial radio channels and 10 music channels) THR (1 station) Radio Rediffusion (2 stations) Synchrosound (1 station) Television: RTM (1,2) Wholly government-owned TV3 (Media Prima Group) 8TV (Media Prima Group) Ntv7 (NatSeven TV Sdn Bhd) ASTRO MiTV Berjaya Group Berhad

8 Alternative Media Utusan Konsumer Aliran sbru.com

9 Foreign Press Foreign Media Representatives Financial Times (S pore) CNN (S pore) Newsweek (S pore) AWSJ Straits Times Singapore Business Times Singapore JiJi Press Ltd Asia Inc. (S pore) CNBC Asia (S pore) Al-Jazeera Wire Services & News Agencies Bernama Economic Service Reuters AFP AP UPI Bloomberg Business News Dow Jones News Wires AFX-Asia Kyodo News Service Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

10 East Malaysian Press Key Sarawak Papers: Berita Petang Sarawak (C) Chinese Daily News (C) International Times (C) Miri Daily News (C) See Hua Daily News (C) Utusan Sarawak (BM) The Borneo Post (E) Malaysian Today (E) Eastern Times (E) Key Sabah Papers: Borneo Post (E) Borneo Mail (E) Borneo Bulletin (E) Daily Express (E) New Sabah Times (E) Asia Times (C) Morning Post (C) Merdeka Daily News (C) Overseas Chinese Daily News (C) See Hua Daily News (C)

11 The Media: Why they matter An important channel of communication Command large audiences/readers/listeners/viewers Control public opinion Wield influence and power Can build or destroy reputation

12 Know Your Media Ownership Editorial Policy Key Players Influence Frequency of Publication Copy Deadlines News Interest Readership Profile Circulation Geographical Strengths

13 A day in the life of a newsroom News Editor assigns reporter to event Reporter returns to write his story Story is edited by Sub-Editor Sub-Editors lay out news pages Evening conference decides how to play

14 Sir Adrian Cadbury, Father of Corporate Governance says It is essential that companies should present their past record and their future opportunities positively to the outside world. Since a number of people will be involved in representing the company, chairmen have to make certain that they are all playing to the same rules and presenting the same picture of the enterprise -- From Corporate Governance & Chairmanship, A Personal View, 2002

15 When to give an interview? A clear opportunity to present a message enhance company reputation or image provide publicity for products and services influence public opinion or educate correct misunderstanding motivate staff promote understanding

16 When not to give an interview? X X X X X X X time pressures issue-related environment potential negatives wrong spokesperson incomplete facts unfriendly or naïve press wrong timing

17 How do you prepare? Know your media Consider the audience Know your story Determine key messages Anticipate questions/develop Q&A

18 Dealing with media demands

19 Key Communication Values Openness & Transparency Two-way communication Accountability Timeliness Accuracy & Simplicity

20 During a Crisis In a crisis, the media want answers to these questions: What happened? How did it happen? What are you doing about it?

21 During a Crisis Your task is to provide these answers: This is what happened This is what we are doing about it This is how we feel about what has happened

22 During a Crisis Reasons for poor communications: Lack of information Don t know what to say, or how to say it Fear of making the situation worse Fear of the media Trying to protect reputation Fear of revealing proprietary information

23 During a Crisis Media Behaviour Feeding frenzy Intense competition among journalists Needing something extra via scoops or exclusives Higher emotional content, with natural sympathy for the underdog

24 During a Crisis If you do not provide information others will Eyewitnesses Analysts, observers Local, State or National Level Politicians Armchair Experts Pressure Groups Local Community Leaders Partner/Internal sources These sources will shape and decide the story for your organisation, resulting in: Stakeholder perception issues Risks to corporate reputation Conflicting and contradictory views

25 During a Crisis When communicating, do Tell the truth Release only confirmed facts Show concern when death/injuries/psychological trauma/losses have occurred Tell what you are doing to resolve the situation and/or mitigate the damage Provide regular updates

26 During a Crisis Both electronic and print media will be interested in accurate and early information We must always appear to be well-informed and in control The Chairman/CEO, as the chief spokesperson, may need to speak personally, or be interviewed on TV; media skills/simulation needed Good PR skills are essential in times of crisis Companies at high risk usually have pre-prepared statements for press/employees Consider a Gag order for internal stakeholders Press material should be drawn from Risk Assurance, Corporate Governance, HSE, Environmental, Quality & other policies

27 During a Crisis When conveying bad news, remember to focus on the PAP formula People (to demonstrate your concern for those affected) Action (as taken by your company to solve/mitigate the problem) Perspective (putting matters in context)

28 Answering a Difficult Question Reframe / Buy Time: PAUSE & SMILE Some people may take that view about our safety policies, but we have the best safety record of all Asian airlines THE HELICOPTER TECHNIQUE If you look at it that way, I can understand that service quality may appear to be lacking but if you look at this way you will find that we are ISO certified and have consistently won the industry s best-practice award for 11 years now TAKE A STEP BACK Before I answer that specific question, let me give you some background about our company

29 A Case in Point Air Asia

30 Tools & Techniques

31 The Story House Approach CONCEPT: Packaging core messages to facilitate delivery in media situations CONSTRUCTION: A roof with 3 rooms based on a solid foundation of facts and figures COMMUNICATION: Big-picture approach create the impression then deliver messages horizontally, using facts and figures to illustrate them

32 Constructing The Story House A ROOF: The takeaway impression THREE ROOMS: One for each core message SOME STILTS: The foundations which support the messages (the facts & figures)

33 Why Use a Story House? You communicate not more than 3 messages at any one time You package information into digestible bits You give shape and definition to your messages You have a framework or agenda for the media interaction You have a platform to bridge back when derailed You have a memory or recall aid

34 Core Messages Messages pertaining to important aspects of your business Mission/Vision Business philosophy Core values Brand proposition Financial performance Operational successes Track record Products & Services Future directions Corporate governance

35 The Air Asia Story House: Air Asia has brought democracy to flying We are a four-year-old airline We ve carried 20 million people We have helped the common man to fly

36 Content vs. Control: Evaluating your performance CONTENT What is my Story? Key Messages Supporting Facts & Figures CONTROL Build rapport with the media Take control Manage interruptions Stay on message Bridge back to the Story House Use flagging & listing Present positive body language Speak clearly & concisely Do not repeat negatives Smile

37 THANK YOU This document remains the intellectual property of Perception Management International Group and may not be reproduced or used in any form whatsoever without the permission of its Principal Consultant This document remains the intellectual property of Perception Management International Group and may not be reproduced or used in any form whatsoever without the permission of its Principal Consultant