Spokesperson vs journalist. Buddies or enemies?

No one wins with the media. This is a truism as clear as day. A spokesman in a confrontation with a journalist has as good a chance of winning as Legia Warsaw has of winning against FC Barcelona. If an editor persists, he or she can kick him or her so that he or she starves to death in mid-air. After all, he or she has his or her own medium at his or her disposal in which to say, write, whatever he or she wants. But does there have to be a confrontation, a war between the representative of an editorial office and the spokesman of a company or institution? It can. But it does not have to.

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Journalist

The rhythm of his work is set by the line. In the local or regional media, the bar for the amount of material created is set very high. High salaries are enjoyed by a few or journalists in national and international editorial offices. The rest have to work hard to earn it. The rush is part and parcel of the job. If we combine it with the diverse subject matter of the issues, it becomes apparent that a journalist rarely has the chance to prepare well for a topic.

Editorial colleges are a facilitator. The chief sometimes puts forward a specific thesis around which material can be built. There is then no need to do too much research into ‘whose right is the most important’. For the sake of decency, one will ask for the position, but it is already at least clear how to construct the material. This is especially the case with young journalists who do not yet have the experience and time to make up for it with a thorough research of the issue they are reporting on.

This is not the case with the so-called ‘old-timers’, who have made a living from many a story. They have a nimbus of omniscience and a conviction that the world functions on the basis of deals on which they have made their living. This type of journalist is able to create his or her own thesis on the basis of even rudimentary information. Unless he is working in a TV newsroom, he will not move from his editorial office without a need. All he needs is a phone call or an e-mail to get his ‘say’ in the matter. He will figure out the rest for himself.

Journalists, like representatives of many other professions, are lost in routine. True enough,

Spokesperson

For the head of a company or institution, the press officer is a kind of bumper in crisis situations and an image builder in times of ‘peace’. However, he or she is always between the hammer and anvil, i.e. the expectations of his or her organisation and the claims of journalists. The spokesperson is there to make sure that the whole country hears through the media about every event, even the most fumbling but positive one in the company. And also so that the whole country receives as little negative information as possible through the media in times of crisis. It all comes down to the media anyway. This is a field that every press officer should cultivate with the utmost care.

The worst mistake a spokesman can make is to ignore journalists. Even if they actually deserve criticism because they are unprepared. They do not know, for example, not only the specifics of the company in question, but even the correct name of the company. Nevertheless, a spokesperson cannot ignore such a journalist, because this always ends badly in terms of media coverage for the organisation he or she represents. At best, the spokesperson becomes the laughing stock of the journalistic community. There are many anecdotes circulating in editorial offices starring spokespeople. A spokeswoman for one of Warsaw’s districts was reported to have said during a telephone interview: ‘I don’t know who you are and I can’t give you an answer’. A spokesperson for a certain municipal company hearing uncomfortable questions said: ‘From now on I will not talk to you, I will answer everything with ‘tomato’. Tomato, tomato, tomato, sir’.

In the relationship between journalist and press officer, the latter has to strive for this relationship. And the best possible one. Aware of the constraints of journalistic work, he can easily win the favour of those journalists who are constantly short of time. All he has to do is prepare an attractive press release. The editor will be grateful that he can ‘get hold of’ such a text, even sometimes on a ‘copy and paste’ basis, because ‘his’ material is then produced in no time at all, and the pay increases. A different strategy has to be adopted in the case of old journalistic experts. These need something more. For example, exclusive information or a completely unusual story. This requires exceptional creativity on the part of the spokesman. But that’s what they’re there for.

Good relations with journalists are the basis for building a positive image of an organisation in the media, as well as a reserve of trust in times of crisis, when the account of a company’s or institution’s image losses may depend on these relations. In summary, it can be said that a press officer vs. a journalist are neither buddies nor enemies. It is a relationship in which the interests of both parties must be taken into account. This means a kind of compromise on the part of the press officer and an advantage for the journalist, but by no means a material one.

Marek Szeles
PR Expert

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