As I will be flying back to the UK tomorrow, instead of out of it, at least I will be able to take a book on board, but not toothpaste it seems. I’m re-living my Ancient History tutorials of 20 odd years ago with Robin Lane Fox’s The Classical World. I’m reminded that the ancients, including the first historian, Heroditus, believed that pride comes before the fall. How true of modern business! And media relations in general. It’s not hard to make a list. Enron (probably the most boastful company ever), IBM before cheap PCs, GEC in the days of Jack Welsh, Miscrosoft - not fallen of its pedestal yet, but rather wobbly of late…. And then you can think of those media types who appear just about everywhere, just before Fleet Street’s finest cuts them down to size, - Boris Johnson comes instantly to mind.

The Classical World also has a lot to say about modern geopolitics. Greece v Persia, Athens V Sparta - reminders that power blocks are nothing new, and that Democracies such as Athens are just as capable of Hubris and global over-reach as their totalitarian rivals. Athens was brought down by an ill-advised foriegn adventure. I fear that brings us full circle to the mess that the world seems to be in today. I’ll try not to think about that mid-air.

It seems like only a few short months ago that bloggers were frequently accused of feeding off the mainstream news media. Now it seems that the roles have been reversed.

Here is in Seattle for another visit to Exbiblio, I
begin my day in a coffee shop (where else?) reading the magisterial New York Times. I’m struck by how many stories stem from blogs. On page one, the felling of senator Joseph Lieberman in a Democratic primary mentions that his blog went down in suspicious circumstances, and adds that his opponent’s victory, “marked the first time that liberal political blogs, after playing an increasingly noisy role in Democratic politics, have been associated with a major winning campaign.”

The story about the Reuters picture of smoke over Beirut, apparently doctored, also gets a headline “Bloggers drive inquiry on how altered images saw print.”

Not surprisingly, Some say that Bloggers are now doing journalists’ work for them.

The AOL leaked search results story was also broken by bloggers and makes a front page follow up story, after a New York Times journalist tracked down and spoke to a woman whose searches had revealed her life and interests in great detail, almost like a map of her waking thoughts. This at least seems like some very good work by a journalist, and I doubt that a blogger would have taken to trouble to go into so much depth. Newspapers can still win on colour and human interest, but I don’t think the high-minded US media normally excel in that department. The NY Times is remarkably thin on features. Most of it could have been written by a Reuters or AP reporter. US editors are going to have to hire talented and individual voices, as well as take an interest in human nature, rather than just politics and world affairs - because quite frankly, I read most of their news yesterday.

While I’m going on about media coverage, here’s the golden rule: have opinions. It’s amazing how many people in business don’t seem to have an opinion on anything. It’s very hard for a journalist to quote somebody if they don’t want commit themselves at all.

The perfect media role is a pundit. If you can spout opinions and succinct analysis on a given topic, you will be like gold to journalists. Your will always be seen as an “expert”. No advertising budget can buy that kind of kudos.

Lawyers can get great media coverage because love arguing. Specialist lawyers can talk about particular business sectors. An economist who isn’t boring (most are) will also be a media star. Private client stockbrokers are in the media because they are used to talking to normal people rather than other bankers. But whatever area you are in, all you need is a few definite opinions to set yourself up above the rest in the media stakes. I don’t mean you have to shoot your mouth off. Measured opinions sound more credible than rants. But I do mean that you have to come off the fence.

I can tell from experience, if you ask 9 out of 10 fund mangers whether they think a particular sector will be up or down in six months time, 9 out of 10 will fail to have an opinion. One wonders why anybody entrusts them with their money, but there you are, that’s how they seem to get by in their profession. The one fund manager out of ten who does speak his mind might be wrong, but he or she will get media coverage. The chances are that nobody will remember what he or she said in six months time, when there will be a new topic to spout opinions on.

Of course blogs are a perfect place to express opinions all day long. I suggest that you start one now.

A second secret of good media coverage, is to understand that exclusive “scoops” play only a small role in the media. The truth is that journalists and bloggers alike copy each other like mad. It’s unlikely that you are going to start your media coverage with a splash on the front page of the Guardian (unless something has gone badly wrong). Media coverage is viral. You have to start somewhere, usually with quite a small outlet, and hope that your message spreads. It probably won’t at first, so you have to keep trying until it does.

Breaking news almost always begins with the agencies such as Reuters or the Press Association. Most business news isn’t significant enough to cut it there, unless you run a listed company. I’m really discussing here how to get an unknown business known.

Traditional places to start include the diary columns. The Evening Standard’s Londoner’s Diary is a fabulous place for a people story, because all the national editors read it. It’s more likely that a business story will get going in a diary on one of the business / City pages. Local newspapers and radio stations are great places to set a hare running. And now, the whole landscape has changed with blogs.

Blogs are the ultimate viral marketing tool. An interesting story will spread around the blogosphere and eventually be picked up by the big media. But it may take a long time to get known. The best thing you can do is to start now, putting your message out on your own blog, trying to write stuff that is interesting to the outside world (plenty of context), and gently letting other bloggers know about you and hoping to catch their interest.

Occasionally you can boost interest with a PR move such as a survey or a piece of research, or a free trial of a product. In the long term, your company just has to be interesting, which is harder said than done. Most businesses are boring because they get tied up in their self-image, which is always artificial. What they really do is far more interesting than what they like to think they do. It can take a while to uncover that hidden story, but when you find it, tell it.

Be Available

BCC viewers have been complaining to Ray Snoddy, presenter of the feedback programme, NewsWatch,
that certain pundits are over-used. In particular, they mentioned Shami Chakrabarti of the pressure group Liberty. Some viewers complained that the unelected Chakrabarti was wielding undue influence in the land. All I can say is that the backers of Libery must be pleased with her.

The editor of the Newsnight programme was hauled in to explain why Chakrabarti and a few other select pundits appeared so often. He mentioned that Chakrabarti was a woman with an ethnic minority background, and that she was a fluent speaker, but this didn’t quite explain why various other white males are so frequently used. The one quality that he kept on mentioning, in each and every case, was that these pundits made themselves available. When the clock is ticking for a deadline, and a speaker is willing to turn up at the TV studio, of course he/she is the one that gets on the air.

A lot of the “secrets” of good media relations seem obvious to me. But whenever I run a media training course (with my friend William Essex) it becomes apparent that people in business often have very little understanding of now the media works.

If you want to project your message, whatever it is, then there is no point in hiring an expensive PR firm unless you are ready to talk to the media yourself. Journalists do not want to talk to the PR company. If you suggest that they should do so, they will become annoyed an make a mental note to annoy you back one day. At best, they won’t call you again, and they may well delete your name from the office contacts list or write a note by your name (”waste of time”). Media opportunities come and go with great rapidity, in a matter of hours, and sometimes minutes. The logic of good media relations means returning a journalist’s call within the hour, and making yourself available to visit the television studio or accept the cameras into your office, albeit at an unsociable time of day.

iTunes have implemented their new categories. After some hestitation, we swapped our kids podcast, Storynory, from “Arts and Entertainment” to the new “Kids and Family”. It’s nice to see it heading the category, at least here on the UK version of iTunes. Of course, it fluctuates from day to day.

Jeff Jarvis explains how a blogger has been jailed in the Land of the Free for not revealing his sources. He videoed some protesters (dissidents?) and the authorities demanded that he hand over his film and testify before a jury. He refused. His mum has now taken over writing his blog. At least the Chinese Government will be hearted by the news that it is not alone in locking up bloggers.

Political Gossip monger Guido Faulks reports that the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” blog has flopped and is to undergo a revamp. I have to admit, I find it a bit exhausting. The problem is, there’s just too much of it. No blog should try to monopolise all of its readers’ online time.