Media Relations Insight from the New York Times

Yesterday's New York Times Week in Review section featured two articles that shed light on the current state of media relations, though both involve offshore situations.

• "My Time as a Hostage, and I’m a Business Reporter" -- in which reporter David Barboza recounts his experience trying to do some reporting at a Chinese factory believed to be the source of lead-contaminated toys sold in the U.S. He and his translator were detained for nine hours on the suspicion that that were industrial spies, not American journalists.


• "A Marine Tutorial on 'Media Spin'" -- a look at parts of a memo written by Marine commanders in response to a media inquiry into the deaths of 24 Iraqis. The memo is frightening in its media paranoia, but sadly, is not far afield from what I've heard at times from corporate clients who are convinced that the media is out to get them.

Editor's Note (that's me): this blog is about exploring the current state of media relations, including not just how the Internet is transforming the media and media relations, but also any other topics that provide insight. A couple of tips emerge after reading these stories:

• The Chinese "media relations tactics" described in Barboza's story aren't likely to happen in the U.S. But the factory where it happened makes toys to be sold in the U.S. So if you're doing media relations for a U.S. company with operations in China or elsewhere, you need to be aware of media relations norms and tactics in those countries, as they may very well become your problem to deal with.


• The Marine memo demonstrates what can happen when you go into a shell and make wild assumptions about what journalists are trying to do when covering a story. In some cases, the paranoia may very well be justified, but often, some knowledge about the journalist's objectives, combined with some savvy about how to answer (or not answer) their questions, may serve you a lot better.