Media Relations 101: The Relationship, Stupid!

Personalizing relations = positive press

In my early 20s, I worked on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign straight out of college. Back then, campaign manager James Carville coined a now famous political phrase which was prominently posted on the wall of campaign headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Carville’s goal was to make the campaign’s core theme clear to staff internally to centralize messaging externally and get voters to the polls on election day. The three words he used are now well-known in the annals of modern political history:

“The economy, stupid!” — James Carville

Carville’s pithy yet cogent one-liner resonated among staff and, more importantly, was embraced by middle class voters who helped propel a once obscure Arkansas governor into the White House.

In a similar manner, when it comes to mastering the art of media relations remember this maxim:

The relationship, stupid!

What sounds so obvious is often so misunderstood and undervalued by today’s professional communicators. This is especially true among younger generations of PR practitioners, too many of whom are obsessed by social media alone. They always appear to have a closer relationship with their smart devices than with actual journalists.

Social Media Obsessed

In short, it’s my observation that most Millennials and Gen Z communicators are too reliant on electronic means alone in disseminating information to the news media.

This makes sense on a macro level because Gens Y and Z were born into the 21st century high-tech Information Age with smart phones as veritable appendages. Therefore, many young people are addicted to social media and smart devices while lacking the “soft skills” which are integral aspects of communication in any profession.

To wit: The Pew Research Center found in a January 2018 study that, “Younger adults are at the vanguard of the constantly connected: Roughly four-in-ten 18- to…