Seat at the Table

Jack and Suzy Welch’s column in BusinesssWeek this week (read it here) focused on media relations in a crisis situation.    While chairman and CEO of GE, Mr. Welch had to deal with more than a few issues in the public eye.  Any experienced corporate communications practitioner has dealt with CEOs in a tough media situation, but where the CEOs’ inclination is to try and manage the media instead of managing the situation.  This column may be an important arrow in the quiver next time you need to convince a C-level executive that trying to manage the media is a losing proposition.  Here are a few choice quotes and paraphrases (in italics) and my notes from the column:

1. [Businesses] think they can tell portions of their story, leaving out the personal, messy, or confusing parts, and still have the media (and the public) consider their comments "truthful." The problem is, whatever you leave out of your story will be filled in—if not with facts, then with conjecture, rumor, or opinion. Is that unfair? It doesn’t matter. The media’s job is to tell a complete story. Your job, if you’re in the public eye, is to protect yourself by helping them get it, warts and all, with your perspective attached every step of the way.

2. Have you transmitted the same message to everyone? If there is one mistake that practically guarantees negative publicity, it’s adjusting your point of view for different audiences. Barack Obama, for instance, took a barrage of criticism when, after praising the values of religious worship and gun ownership at Midwestern rallies, he derided the same at a private fund-raising party in San Francisco.

3. Finally, have you taken your media coverage into your own hands? Time was, the media had the last word. The Web made it so there are no more last words. Sure, it can be used against you in a media firestorm, what with thousands of amateur news sites and blogs. But that’s all the more reason to use the Web for your own defense, if not offense. Celebrities now speak directly to the public about rumors; companies are doing the same. Individuals who feel maligned now have this option. You may not be able to change the course of your media coverage to your complete liking, but at least you’ll have an active role in it—in your own words.