Manage the Media

In this summary, you will learn

• How bad publicity can prevent your company from reaching its strategic objectives
• How corporations have used public relations to diffuse criticism
• Why good communication is an essential part of corporate strategy

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Why you should read Manage the Media

CEOs and boards of directors generally place little value on communication experience or strategy, but they ignore public relations (PR) at their peril. William J. Holstein cites examples of how corporate leaders’ poor communication skills caused media debacles. He succinctly introduces CEOs to communication basics. He emphasizes taking the offensive, framing your message and using the new media. He discusses how to avoid, or learn from bad publicity, whether deserved or undeserved (a distinction he underplays), and explains how good PR can deter negative attention. Holstein seems to suggest that firms should change their PR strategies to earn warmer public attention, and pays less attention to whether they should also change their actions, even though policies that betray the public interest consistently provoke negative press. He offers tactics to strengthen corporations’ outreach to shape the media’s message. getAbstract recommends this short essay to executives who need to build their PR skills and who need to know that nothing draws positive attention like having good practices to promote.

About the Author

William J. Holstein is an award-winning editor, author and journalist on subjects of concern to CEOs and boards of directors. He writes for The New York Times, Fortune, Corporate Board Member, BusinessWeek Online, and BNET.