Media relations tip of the week

The first inclination for many people under fire is to wait and see what happens. But, as President Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, liked to say, "Bad news is a lot like fish. It doesn't get better with age." Tell the truth, tell it all and tell it fast!

-Professor Mark Grabowski

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Government v. Media

Read a newspaper column on bad media relations by Mark Grabowski:

"As a journalism professor who also runs a media relations firm, I believe that The Mississippi Press was both right and wrong in its editorial blasting Gautier city's media relations memo..."

Crisis prevention through foresight

Read advice by PR professor Mark Grabowski on how to handle Michael Moore and the bad publicity he and other investigative journalists inevitably bring:

"...what should a company do when a Michael Moore, 60 Minutes crew or other type of "investigative journalist" shows up on its doorstep unannounced? Too often, companies and organizations make the mistake of waiting for a public relations crisis to happen and then responding to it. No matter how much damage control a company does, it's hard to overcome an embarrassing clip from a movie or TV show that will be indelibly stamped in the minds of millions of Americans. A better approach is what many of us in the PR industry call 'crisis prevention...'"