Strategy Survival Guide
Strategy Survival Guide
Strategy Survival Guide
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<strong>Strategy</strong> <strong>Survival</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> Version 2.1<br />
Prime Minister’s <strong>Strategy</strong> Unit<br />
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<strong>Strategy</strong> Skills > Managing Communications<br />
Communication with the media<br />
> in practice<br />
The media is the means by which many stakeholders will be influenced and informed about the project.<br />
Hostile media coverage can seriously damage the project and lead to options being closed by important<br />
stakeholders without any informed discussion or consideration.<br />
Except in exceptional cases, it is always better to engage with the media as perceived secrecy will only<br />
increases their interest. News is what is different – the project’s view of issues are informed and detailed in a<br />
way that the media will not usually have access to.<br />
The team should always work with and through the Communications Group and Press Office rather than<br />
dealing with the media directly. When communicating with the media it is important to remember:<br />
• Keep it simple and ensure that the story is clear. News has no grey areas: It’s a 'success’ or a<br />
'failure’, it’s 'big’ or little’, 'yes’ or 'no’, 'right’ or 'wrong’; journalists rarely have the time to deal with<br />
detail.<br />
• Be as open as possible, secrecy adds interest and value to a story.<br />
• Be fully briefed and know the facts.<br />
• Avoid the void: If you don’t provide some information, someone else will.<br />
• Create a Q&A brief to cover areas that the media will be interested in.<br />
• Don’t be tempted just to answer the easy questions or cover the areas they 'should to be interested<br />
in’. Test the answers to ensure that they robust.<br />
• Consider whether a press briefing or conference is required and whether there are any key<br />
stakeholders that the media will automatically contact. If so consider briefing them in advance.<br />
Communication with the media<br />
In Practice: An SU Project<br />
When our project became news many team members were surprised by the ability of even ””serious”<br />
newspapers to get the issues wrong. This presented a delicate trade-off: should we seek to correct<br />
misrepresentation and risk inflaming the debate; or should we sit tight and let the story blow over?<br />
We received some helpful advice from the media professionals in the press office and others who were<br />
able to advise on the political dimension. The golden rules are 1) don’t panic; 2) have a media strategy<br />
and 3) stick to it.<br />
That said, being in the eye of media storm was certainly unnerving. Journalists have a pack mentality and<br />
will pursue and develop stories first picked up by their rivals. This is particularly true on ‘hot button’ issues<br />
that translate into strong headlines.<br />
Damage limitation is crucial. In the first instance, we had to ensure that we knew the facts ourselves with<br />
as much certainty as possible. Second, we checked that key stakeholders inside and outside government<br />
also knew the true position. Many had already been contacted by the media and had been rushed into<br />
commenting on what was at best a partial picture of the situation.<br />
We set out to provide a clear long-term vision and a more immediate agenda. This is where good<br />
strategy comes in. A compelling narrative backed up by clear evidence, helped to show that government<br />
was on top of the problem and had a coherent view on how our issue will be addressed in the future. This<br />
might be less interesting to some journalists, but makes for better public policy.<br />
<strong>Strategy</strong> <strong>Survival</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> – <strong>Strategy</strong> Skills<br />
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