In politics, you’re either on-message or you’re losing. Let’s get to it.
Welcome to On Message, a weekly look at where the battle lines are drawn and who is winning the war of words.
This week… Serve and Volley
There’s a shortage of interesting political banter this week so let’s turn to the wide world of sports to help us illustrate an important principle of strategic communication.
The French Open is underway and the only thing grabbing headlines has been the action off the court.
Naomi Osaka is one of the best players in the world. She arrived at Roland Garros and announced she would skip the regular press conferences, citing the negativity the press plants in her mind.
In doing so, she picked a fight with the group that buys its ink by the barrel (or, maybe today they buy their web hosting by the terabyte?) In doing so, ironically, she gave them way more to write about than they would have in a normal press conference.
Later in the week, Osaka withdrew from the tournament and issued a more thorough explanation that she is dealing with some mental health issues including anxiety and depression and that the sessions with the media are triggers for those issues.
Fair enough. Mental health is a serious issue and one that we could all be more understanding of.
It’s also fair to point out that the media drives interest in sporting events and is a major reason professional tennis players can make the kind of money they do. It’s a delicate balance but one that merits re-evaluation, particularly in a changing media landscape.
But what does this have to do with politics?
Well, professional athletes and politicians have similar relationships with the media.
Both do their work with interested audiences watching and both try to use the media to shape the public’s perception of how they’re doing.
You could also say there are times when both would prefer to not deal with the media and that they rightfully feel they treated with varied levels of fairness.
So, how should politicians decide when and how to engage with the media? The answer depends greatly on what your motives are and taking the time to define those is an important step.
Start with thinking through the basics.
What kind of relationship do you want with the media?
What benefits do you hope to drive from it? And what are the potential drawbacks?
Are there particular media outlets that give you access to the audience you want and are there others you’d like to limit your access to or avoid altogether?
It sounds really basic but the rush of having your name in the press or your mug on TV can cause you trouble you may not be prepared to deal with.
Once you decide to engage, I’ve always been more in favor of building a healthy and productive relationship with reporters and editors.
More than ever, today you have the ability to craft your message and build your own audience. But it takes a real commitment of time and resources to be able to do that. Media outlets have that audience and access to their audience is the BIGGEST reason to work with them.
For athletes, politicians and even businesses, dealing with the media is not only a necessity, it has high upside if done correctly.
That’s it for this week.
More On Message in the next issue of the Utah Political Underground.
Make sure you visit the site and sign up for our weekly email update. You can find more On Message videos, in-depth Utah political stories and analysis, plus podcasts and more at utahpoliticalundergound.com.
