Chapter 7

Having worked in both radio and television broadcasting, I found the accuracy of advocacy in this chapter to be incredibly accurate according to my experiences. One of the most important concepts that is the most undervalued in media relations is longevity. Media relations is a "marathon" not a "sprint." Unfortunately, most everyone treats it like a sprint and live or die emotionally by a single negative event. The chapter's recommendation that media relations should be viewed as an average of negative verses positive events is the reality of those who keep good media relations professionals and find successes verses those who have an employment revolving door and achieve lackluster success at best.

Another invaluable point made is that relationships must be developed with those in the media. I have seen this in every medium work to the success of both the organization and the media medium. Once an organization develops a level of trust with a reporter or broadcaster, that organization is most likely to contact them with breaking news because they want to return the favor for fair coverage. The media person is then more likely to make sure a story involving the entity is at least fair because they know there is a valuable source for information when other competitors are unable to get the information or the interview.

Finally, one of the other key elements forgotten or more accurately dismissed in this historical moment is the making of internal publics top priority. If those within an organization are happy about their place in the organization and feel valued they are far more likely to do their work with greater accuracy and better customer service. If the employees are unhappy, so will be the customers and the public.