The Publicity Hound’s Blog

It’s amazing how clearly you can see things in hindsight.

Like media bias, for instance. During the 22 years I worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, if you had told me the media were biased, I’d have wanted to arm-wrestle you.

But here we are, 12 years later. In the column I wrote for Bulldog Reporter this week, I admit the ugly truth, plead guilty, and explain what it means for anyone who does PR or wants publicity. (It’s the third article on the page.)

The good news is, the old rules don’t apply anymore, and we’re no longer at the mercy of the media to deliver our message.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, Crisis Communications, How to Interview, Newspaper Publicity, PR Consultants/Publicists, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 10/17/2006: 8:05 am: By Joan
Comments:

One Response

Lou Hampton Says:
October 21st, 2006 at 1:19 am

Joan, Kudos on your Bulldog Reporter media bias piece. It should be required reading for anyone who deals with reporters, and would be good for a lot of reporters to read as well.

In my nearly 30 years of experience, I’m convinced the strongest bias is toward emphasizing the negative. If it’s a positive story, it is as your former reporters would have said, “fluff.” But “if it bleeds, it leads,” then we’re talking “real news.”

As a news director at one of our (Washington DC) network affiliates used to tell his reporters, “Go out and find me the tragic, the senseless, and the bizarre!”

Even if something initially seems positive, reporters feel they need to keep digging until they hit the sewer line. Lyndon Johnson captured the mindset well when he commented, “If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.’”

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