So, this is it, the final blog post in the final unit of the final year of my Public Relations degree, hallelujah and praise be to [insert nondenominational tutelary]!
I’ve reserved the final post in my blogging quadraplex to the media, and the way I and others in our office and in politics in general interact with the media on a day-to-day and issue-by-issue basis.
For me the interaction between politics and the media is the fundamentally archetypal picture of public relations. Media releases, photo-ops, door-stops, press-conferences, attack, defence, parry, repost etc. Political media relations have all of the hallmarks of primetime PR, but alas the West Wing makes it look so simple.
I should preface this by saying that I work for a backbencher and therefor my interactions with the media tend to be on a more issue-by-issue basis as opposed to the daily interactions of a ministerial office. Sorry readers, so juicy Hollow Men gossip from me.
In our office there are two types of media relations/interactions we undertake. The first is issue specific media relations which tends to deal primarily with national media outlets such as the ABC, the Networks , News Ltd’s Dailies and Fairfax’s Age, Sydney Morning Herald, and Canberra Times broadsheets.
A pertinent example of this kind of media relations is the recent story about the ‘Supertrawler’ and the pressure by Members on all sides of parliament to ban it from fishing in Australia waters, of which my boss was a significant player.
Now having announced that she would introduce a Private Members Bill into the Parliament to see the trawler banned from fishing in Australian waters, my job immediately turned into one of fielding calls from every media outlet in the country, an interesting if not fanatical task often with several telephone conversations on the go at once. I cannot say there was any part of my PR degree that prepared me for this, but I think decent organisational skills are probably the key.
On the other hand, we have the two local newspapers we deal with on a daily basis. While no Age or Sydney Morning Herald, both newspapers are probably more important than any daily broadsheet to our primary objectives and goals. Now this is something I touched on my blog about events. It’s all well and good to get in every paper in the country, but does it advance your goals and objectives? If the answer is no then you're wasting your time.
Billionaire Warren Buffett believes that the future of the newspaper industry lies in ultra-local newspapers like those produces by the Community Newspaper Group here in Western Australia, Indeed he recently put his money where his mouth his and purchased 63 local newspapers in the US for a staggering $142 million - and I think he’s got a point.
Local newspapers are relatively inexpensive to produce and they contain ultra-local content, which is what people want and something that politicians should take notice of. Local newspapers should not be frowned upon or looked on as inferior to the big dailies, because I can guarantee on a per distribution area basis they are far more widely read.
Good local news stories, good relationships with local reporters and good messaging to your constituents through the use of local media is what I think grassroots politics is all about, and with that I wish everyone the best in their future careers and highly recommend anyone with a passion for politics should get involved, it’s fun and very rewarding.
Adieu, Ron.
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