FOREWORD

By Kabir Dangogo FNIPR

Understandably, relating well with the media is one of the key functions in public relations. PR practitioners are expected to master the art of media relations in the course of communicating with their audiences. Public relations which is all about building and managing relationships, makes effective media relations the nerve centre of the discipline. This explains why managing the media increasingly demands that practitioners be well versed in the skills that enable them to handle a diverse collection of journalists that seeks to satisfy equally diverse audiences. Getting media relations right amounts to putting the best foot forward, which translates into building good working relationships with journalists at the various gates of media organizations. Effective communication with key audiences requires communicating well with the news media.  

In A Dozen Tips in Media Relations, the author provides the skills, expertise disposition and tools the public relations practitioner requires to effectively build and manage relationships with journalists.  The book is a practical approach to fostering a professional relationship with the media for effective corporate reputation management. It takes the reader through a dozen tips that can help the practitioner to understand how to respond to journalists’ enquiries by giving them the information they want and when they want it. The book also shows what happens when the practitioner responds to journalists’ enquiries in an unprofessional manner, or fails to respond at all. 

The author identifies understanding the media, the organization one works for, the all powerful CEO and developing good human relations as some of the skills necessary for establishing a good rapport with the media and facilitating communication. He uses his personal experience to show that building a network of contacts, acquiring effective working tools, constructing the right messages, placing the information, getting the budget approved, effectively managing crises and continually evaluating the outcome of the output are what the public relations practitioner needs to shine on the job.

The book brings out some of the common mistakes practitioners commit while relating with journalists and suggests ways to avoid them. It also highlights some of the experiences the author has passed through in the many years he worked as a public relations officer in several government organs.  He hints on what it takes to successfully manage the media and get them to respect the practitioner as a credible source of information.  The author also cites examples of CEOs who by disposition command the respect of the media which makes the PR man’s job easier.

In a detailed account of how practitioners can build the reputation of their corporate organizations through effective media relations, the author reproduces excerpts of comments contained in newspaper editorials published on one of the organizations he worked  for. He specifically cites the credibility of his chairman and the performance of the government organization he led which accounted for the positive media mentions they got during that period. He succinctly shows how he several times used his media relations skills to keep the organization in positive light and how he professionally managed the interviews his CEOs granted journalists.

The author provides other variables that can help the PR practitioner to understand the media prism. These include media categorization, target audiences and the communication process. Others are the code of conduct for journalists, beat correspondents, media monitoring and press clippings, circulation of press releases, feature articles and treatment of rejoinders by the press. 

Handling press interviews, advert placements, supplements, sponsorship and the place of consultants also receive the author’s attention in the book. These enable the practitioner to know when and how to use each of them in the course of performing his functions. The section also identifies the limitations of each of these communication facilitators.

As the author points out, the skills for effective media relations captured in the book cannot be ignored by professional public relations practitioners. The book is highly recommended for practitioners who may be looking for a way to improve their relationship with the media and students or beginners who are not sure where to begin. It is a good contribution at enriching the public relations literature in this part of the world.        

Kabir Dangogo

Managing Director/CEO

Timex Communications Ltd