Managing the media: a primer for finance officers.

• Author: Cook, Marshall J.

This article presents strategies to improve finance officers' relationships and communication with the media.

Public finance officials are not formally trained to deal with the media. Talking with reporters is usually not in the job description. But handling the press effectively is one of the most important jobs that a public finance official has. Public perception depends on the effective handling of the media.

One can try to avoid reporters or issue a terse "no comment" about sensitive or controversial issues. However, this is not advised. In fact, public officials should go out of their way to establish and nurture productive working relationships with reporters. Every encounter with reporters should be handled as openly and candidly as possible, and moreover, contact with reporters should be initiated under certain circumstances. To get the message through the often unreliable conduit of the mass media to the people who really matter - the citizens and taxpayers - it is imperative to have a good working relationship with the media.

Important issues will be debated in the press with or without the cooperation and input of public finance officials. As one reporter puts it, "That ship's going to sail, whether you're on it or not." It is much more advantageous to ensure that perspective, insights and informed opinions get reported clearly and accurately than to say nothing. To ensure accuracy, one must make oneself accessible to the press, answer reporters' questions effectively, and clearly communicate the intended message.

There is a three-step process to help get the message across with a minimum of distortion or inaccuracy. This article will discuss how to:

* prepare the message,

* rehearse the message, and

* stick to the message under all circumstances.

What Do Reporters Really Want?

Reporters want certain things from their interviewees and it is important for public finance officials to be aware of these things and accordingly use them to their advantage. Different media want different things.

Radio. The news director for the local radio station has two things to sell to his or her listeners - 1) speed and 2) the sound of someone's voice. Radio can get it on the air first, and they can get quotes (called sound bites in the electronic media) straight from the source with relatively little difficulty. Thus, radio reporters work under the greatest time pressure and are apt to put more heat on the interviewee to say something - anything! - right now, so they can get it on the newscast at the top of the hour. They also want it short. The average sound bite runs 7-10 seconds. That is not much time to sum up the complexities, weigh the alternatives, and qualify the conclusions. For radio, one must practice creating clear, succinct sound bites that will convey the message and present the agency in a good light.

Print Media. Newspapers and magazines cannot get the news first, but they can get it in more depth. Even though many newspapers and magazines are tending toward shorter stories and sidebars, they still have more space to devote to a complex story. Print reporters should be given the background and data they need to present the fuller picture. But the significance of that information should always be summarized in the form of crisp quotes.

Television. Providing charts, graphs, and reports to a television reporter is tantamount to putting them in a shredder. "The eye that never blinks" has no time for such stuff, and viewers cannot absorb it off the TV screen anyway. Television does not convey facts; it creates impressions. Television does not like words; it craves pictures.

One should develop a credible television presence when talking to the camera, standing in front of an interesting background while delivering the message, and suggesting or providing strong visuals. This synthesis of a clear message and strong visual support will...