Beat the Press

The call that shakes up your business or ego is guaranteed to happen when you least expect it. You might be enjoying a leisurely lunch with your family or perhaps reviewing reports at work when your assistant alerts you to a pressing matter.

“A reporter from The New York Post wants to talk to you about their hidden camera investigation. She says she needs to speak with someone right now.”

Or maybe that unexpected phone call will come across as more benign.

“A researcher from Channel 3 wants to speak to you about our refund policy.”

But the worst-case scenario occurs when the encounter with the media isn’t even announced. You’ve seen it on TV dozens of times. The businessman is walking casually to his car when a reporter and television crew ambushes him on the sidewalk. When television is at its best, a camera gets shoved and doors get slammed.

Perhaps you are in a different situation. You may want to prevent bad news from getting out or you need to shape a message that hasn’t yet been disseminated. Regardless of your situation, perception is reality, but like everything else in life there are steps you can take to protect, improve or even manipulate that perception with the media and thus the public.

There’s a popular saying in journalism, “same story, different day.” If you turn on the news tonight, you may hear a different story from yesterday, but it will have the same theme. That’s because journalism is about people, and ultimately, people make the same mistakes day in and day out. Likewise, most journalists cover those mistakes the same way. It’s a pattern of coverage, and once you understand how that coverage is transcribed, you will have a better grasp of manipulating the message from the start.

Beat the Press teaches you overt and covert tactics that only a media insider would know. From leaking information to a specific source; to answering a reporter’s difficult questions; to finding the right media hook to pitch, Beat the Press provides practical steps to help you spin any story into your favor.

Some of the tactics revealed in this book will be simple, like learning how to answer a tough question with another question. Other steps require the strategy of a war planner, like approaching the proper reporter, producer, editor or news executive when pitching a story. You will also learn in this book how to assess the cost and risk of speaking to a reporter on the record versus a written statement. Real life examples are scattered throughout the chapters, teaching you what businesses and people did right and wrong with their media encounters.

The media loves stories with conflict and resolution, preferably a David and Goliath tale. But don’t fret if you are a small business owner going up against a media giant. It is possible to influence the way your story is told. It is conceivable to alter the outcome of your story. The challenge lies in learning how to position you, your character and your story before the media has a chance to write it.