A Reporter's "Agenda?" Not What You Might Think

"Get your facts first, and then you can distort 'em as much as you please."

~Mark Twain

So said the Bard of Hannibal, Missouri, speaking of reporters -- and he should know. After failing as a miner in Nevada, he himself was an ink-stained wretch, writing for the Virginia City paper. And he wasn't alone in that opinion. Reporters are among the most vilified of working stiffs, as far too many of them take advantage of open society freedoms to pursue their trade with little respect for accuracy and a frequently ill-concealed point of view. Of course, the cable TV shouters haven't done much to honor the profession, since many viewers apparently confuse ideological rants with straight reporting.

I put myself in the latter camp, having written for publications such as the Kansas City Star and Business Week magazine, neither of which tolerated anything but a professional approach to journalism. Total objectivity, the editors acknowledged, is never humanly possible. Nor is perfectly accurate news gathering, but an honest attempt at bias-free reporting is still the hallmark of respected news media.

So how does that distinction apply to someone who must deal with reporters -- either in a reactive stance due to a crisis or other surprise development, or to pitch a new product, service, policy stance or fundraising effort? Well, it helps to know what motivates us:

• We're not in it for the money. We are in it because our curiosity about people and their triumphs and failures drives us. Scandals, personal foibles, controversy -- we revel in all of it. I've always appreciated columnist Anna Quindlen's take: "Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description."
• Our agenda doesn't have a political slant. What we really want is recognition, preferably envy, from our peers.
• Our real bias is for the story, the "what's new?"
• Getting that story often leads to obsessive, obnoxious, manipulative behavior, none of which is to imply that we're dishonest. The best of us are determined, which can make us unpleasant to deal with if you're the one answering the questions.
• Reporters taking those traits to the extreme become editors and producers, who in turn make reporters they deem unworthy quite miserable.

Seventh Class in the Language Hall of Shame

Read through enough websites and listen to enough presentations -- with or without the PowerPoint crutch -- and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to indulge in communicating without thinking. What makes it particularly effortless is the way readers and audiences fall into step and later repeat what sounds impressive and even authoritative.

• Paradigm shift: This phrase, meaning "revolutionary science," was coined by Thomas Kuhn in his influential 1962 book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. In other words, its impact was radical. Yet I hear it used as a one-size-fits-all label to outline, for instance, a company's approach to a strategic plan (previous Hall of Shame honorees in italics): "Using due diligence, we must drill down to a decision point and think outside the box to achieve a paradigm shift in our thinking."

  How about this for a plain English alternative? "The only way we're going to adjust our approach to meet market and competitive demands is to get the key players together and come up with a plan."

• The new normal: Right. I have no idea what that means. Does it replace the "old normal?" If so, does that make the old normal "abnormal" or "post-normal?" Who makes such a momentous decision? How will we know when the new normal begins to fade from view? When do we stop using the word "new?" (Again, Hall of Shame members in italics): "If we're going to take this to the next level, we have to recognize that social media is the new normal, which means that this is the defining moment to grab the low-hanging fruit and get our message out through Facebook."

  Or, plain and direct English: "This is no time to stand still and watch our competitors take advantage of social media. Let's look into Facebook."

Facing Up To Facebook

So this is what all the excitement is about, huh? Knowing that someone has decided to make waffles instead of frying eggs on a snowy New England morning. Or reading that someone loves her children with such aching depth of feeling that she just has to proclaim it to her ever-expanding audience.

I got started on Facebook a few months ago because I was told it can be a fine marketing tool. I'm still getting there, and the possibilities are starting to emerge. My plan is to exchange ideas with people who care about and have a professional interest in business communications and the role of the news media in marketing and crisis communications. I'll keep you posted.

Take care,
Dave

Rebirth of a Blog

Back and forth I’ve gone on all this “social media” business, and I’m a long way from making up my mind. Somehow the notion of “tweeting” hasn’t quite penetrated my thinking when it comes to serious and productive marketing. But I am reintroducing my blog. Why I let it slip I don’t know, but I do recall that it made for relaxed and stimulating conversation. Please join me at http://www.businesscommunications.wordpress.com, and react by sounding off on anything touching on business communications, presentation skills and writing skills, and all their promise and pitfalls. I'll continue to share what I know about the news media and how you can gain from press encounters, as well as writing and public speaking for success.