Media relations involves working with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.
Many people use the terms public relations and media relations interchangeably; however, doing so is incorrect. Media relations refer to the relationship that a company or organization develops with journalists, while public relations extend that relationship beyond the media to the general public.
Dealing with the media presents unique challenges in that the news media cannot be controlled — they have ultimate control over whether stories pitched to them are of interest to their audiences. Because of this, ongoing relationships between an organization and the news media is vital. One way to ensure a positive working relationship with media personnel is to become deeply familiar with their "beats" and areas of interests.
Working with the media on the behalf of an organization allows to raise awareness of the entity to be raised as well as the ability to create an impact with a chosen audience. It allows access to both large and small target audiences and helps build public support and mobilizing public opinion for an organization. This is all done through a wide range of media and can be used to encourage two-way communication.
Key elements of strategy-based media relations [47]
· The media strategy is documented and implemented according to principles agreed to by public affairs and senior management.
· A media policy is drawn up with responsibilities, profiles and positioning.
· Media activity is planned to reach target audiences in direct support of your organizational mission and goals.
· Media contact is broadly divided into proactive and reactive activities.
· Issuance of press releases, position statements and key announcements through both offline and online methods to prompt media coverage.
The media work in the new legal environment since 1991, the first serious step in this direction was the Federal Law "On Mass Media" [48], on 27 December 1991 № 2124-1, entered into force on 8 February 1992 they legislate common principles of freedom of the media, the new organization and the media. At the same time, the Law defined the basic principles of interaction with the media. Among them there are the following: [34, p.72]
• Objectivity: a journalist should cover the facts exactly as they occur in reality - without any fraud, drama, without interference in the personal lives of citizens. Do not make public reports of serious incidents in society as long as there is no given careful and prudent assessment of seriousness of the situation;
• Integrity: punishable by getting information by illegal means in the form of blackmail, any suggestions and requests, which could affect the participants in the events;
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• Ethics: media should refuse to grant broadcast assumptions, rumors, their own guesses for the exact facts.
• Pluralism: the audience has the right to obtain information about all that, one way or another, affects social life. And the journalist's own view should not insult the present and possible, be neutral. In this case the journalist is not obliged to be responsible for the information obtained from official government or public sources. When you publish the facts, he should give clear reference to source materials.
In the process of organizing the activities PR should remember the basic rules of interaction with the media: [51]
• the design information for the media should be in addition to corporate objectives to comply with the public interest. Cleared message must be accurate, understandable, have important facts of interest and news value to media and other contact groups;
• the mechanism of interaction with the press should be done on a regular basis in the partnership mode, tact, truthfulness and respect;
• need time to respond to media requests and to provide comprehensive information services, observing the two necessary conditions: accuracy and speed. If there are misunderstandings between the PR-specialists and journalists, they should be eliminated in the shortest time at the expense of the actual materials, documents, explanations and clarifications on the highest level;
• Planning to prepare the information, its release to the press, PR-specialists to organize the work of assessment feedback to the recommendations of the management to improve marketing activities;
• PR-specialist should make every effort to prepare presentations leader, his press interviews on radio, in the PR-campaign, using interviews, briefings, presentations, etc.;
• PR-department should always be open and available for establishing contacts with the media in any form. On a regular basis should be monitored in the field of tracking, analysis and evaluation of press releases, radio and television.
• Be smart. Be professional. Learn from others. Media Invitation to the friendly people come to your organization, to give workshops on interviews, and other topics. To understand the media you are trying to influence and make sure they understand you.