Strategy Survival Guide

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit

Version 2.1

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Strategy Skills > Managing Communications

Communication with the media

The media is the means by which many stakeholders will be influenced and informed about the project. Hostile media coverage can seriously damage the project and lead to options being closed by important stakeholders without any informed discussion or consideration.

Except in exceptional cases, it is always better to engage with the media as perceived secrecy will only increases their interest. News is what is different - the project's view of issues are informed and detailed in a way that the media will not usually have access to.

The team should always work with and through the Communications Group and Press Office rather than dealing with the media directly. When communicating with the media it is important to remember:

Keep it simple and ensure that the story is clear. News has no grey areas: It's a 'success' or a 'failure', it's 'big' or little', 'yes' or 'no', 'right' or 'wrong'; journalists rarely have the time to deal with detail.
Be as open as possible, secrecy adds interest and value to a story.
Be fully briefed and know the facts.
Avoid the void: If you don't provide some information, someone else will.
Create a Q&A brief to cover areas that the media will be interested in.
Don't be tempted just to answer the easy questions or cover the areas they 'should to be interested in'. Test the answers to ensure that they robust.
Consider whether a press briefing or conference is required and whether there are any key stakeholders that the media will automatically contact. If so consider briefing them in advance.

Communication with the media

In Practice: An SU Project

When our project became news many team members were surprised by the ability of even ""serious" newspapers to get the issues wrong. This presented a delicate trade-off: should we seek to correct misrepresentation and risk inflaming the debate; or should we sit tight and let the story blow over?

We received some helpful advice from the media professionals in the press office and others who were able to advise on the political dimension. The golden rules are 1) don't panic; 2) have a media strategy and 3) stick to it.

That said, being in the eye of media storm was certainly unnerving. Journalists have a pack mentality and will pursue and develop stories first picked up by their rivals. This is particularly true on 'hot button' issues that translate into strong headlines.

Damage limitation is crucial. In the first instance, we had to ensure that we knew the facts ourselves with as much certainty as possible. Second, we checked that key stakeholders inside and outside government also knew the true position. Many had already been contacted by the media and had been rushed into commenting on what was at best a partial picture of the situation.

We set out to provide a clear long-term vision and a more immediate agenda. This is where good strategy comes in. A compelling narrative backed up by clear evidence, helped to show that government was on top of the problem and had a coherent view on how our issue will be addressed in the future. This might be less interesting to some journalists, but makes for better public policy.

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