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Media Relations Around the World
At APCO Worldwide, we were early adopters of new media, but we never lost sight of the power of personal relationships combined with professional experts who know how to navigate the ever complex and demanding world of global media relations. We have a range of global experts who work in partnership with our clients as they face intense media scrutiny or aim to strengthen their visibility and reputation. Our consultants include former journalists from leading print, broadcast and new media outlets; former corporate spokespeople who have managed some of the world’s most recognized brands; and press secretaries and government executives from across the political spectrum. While fully capturing the differences and intricacies of working with journalists in various parts of the globe cannot be achieved in a mere sound bite, we asked some of these APCO consultants to briefly comment on factors impacting media relations in their markets.
Adrian Cheung
director, Hong Kong
former journalist, BBC World Service in London and
Hong Kong's The Standard
"In Hong Kong, the chronic high turnover of the journalist trade makes it difficult to build journalists' knowledge on specific sectors. The high turnover also makes relationship building rather challenging and not always rewarding. On the other hand, the enormous popularity of free tabloids 'freebloids' in Hong Kong also presents new challenges. The freebloids invariably have very thin frontline news-gathering capability. Very much driven by the TV news agenda, the freebloids are often not responsive to press-event invitations or interview pitches. In such an environment, companies will have to really ensure that messages in press materials are sharp and easy to understand and be flexible and ready to use a multi-pronged approach to reach out to the media.
The Mainland China media is very diverse, complicated and fast changing. The financial and business media have been taking the lead in establishing editorial independence and professionalism, and they take their watchdog role seriously. Other media have also been more vocal on social issues. Getting heard in the media will become increasingly challenging, and companies have to be prepared to be scrutinized by the media, as in other markets. Getting professional help in media relations in Mainland China is always a must so as to navigate the complex landscape."
Derwin Johnson
senior vice president, New York
former Middle East bureau chief, CNN and ABC
"In the United States, the number one rule for media relations involves knowing how the topic you are pitching is going to affect the journalist’s audience. The second rule is deciding if the topic passes the 'Why should I care test?' Ultimately that is what journalists are thinking as soon as you start your pitch and that is also what their editors and producers are thinking when the journalist goes to them with their story idea. Companies pitching the media in this market need to determine if this product, service or initiative is going to impact the way people think, work, play and live."
Lim Shu Ling
associate director, Singapore
former journalist and producer, BBC in Singapore
"ASEAN is a very diverse geography. The media here is not monolithic. The media can be relatively liberal and unfettered in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. Malaysia and Singapore media are, on the other hand, more tightly controlled by the state or political parties. Thus, in countries like the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, you can expect the media to behave more aggressively if they are after certain stories and you can expect some 'investigative' journalism on the part of idealistic journalists. In Malaysia or Singapore, local media tend to be less aggressive, and they do not carry out investigative-style journalism. Their editorial line is likely to come from their political masters. Having said that, there is now a proliferation of alternative media in Malaysia and Singapore precisely because it is felt that the mainstream media is controlled and opaque. Such alternative media, including blogs, played a significant role in the recent Malaysian elections, for example, with people turning to them for the 'real stories.'
Companies operating in ASEAN therefore need to be aware of the differences among the media of the different countries. In Singapore, for example, if they are bringing in investment, the local media will play that up because it is in line with government policy. Elsewhere, say in Indonesia, companies may find the media landscape trickier to navigate since there are so many more players; and since the media there are more interested in appealing to their readership, many are more likely to go to town with sensationalistic stories and blow something negative out of proportion."
Roger Lowe
senior vice president, Washington, D.C.
former bureau chief and reporter, The Columbus Dispatch and
The Cincinnati Post
"The increasing coverage by media on their Web sites and reporter blogs means that stories develop much more rapidly and require faster responses. It is now common for a reporter to immediately post a story to their Web site or blog after attending a press event or conducting an interview, rather than waiting until that night's broadcast or the next day's newspaper. In addition, more and more newspapers are cutting staff, leaving the remaining reporters with more responsibilities – along with the added pressure to produce stories for the Web. This can often mean that reporters don't take the time to make that extra phone call to check out something further or to get an additional comment from an interested third party, requiring these groups to be more proactive."
Brandon Mitchener
director, Brussels
former correspondent, The Wall Street Journal in Europe
"The challenge in Brussels is to be able to demonstrate the relevance of a story to readers, viewers and listeners in 27 different countries speaking more than 20 different languages. If you are lucky, the story you are trying to sell is so important for at least one European country that all the others will sit up and take notice. In most cases, though, you actually have to research examples for at least a handful of countries, including at least two or three of the bigger countries. This may just prove the old maxim that all news is local but in a continent where most people describe themselves as being German, French or Spanish before being European, the maxim is all the more true because there’s little common interest in what happens to the European Union as a whole."
Emily Smith
senior associate, Brussels
former reporter, The Economist Group's European Voice and
The Parliament Magazine
"The Brussels media corps offers access to some of the world’s only journalists with a daily interest in and need for EU policy news. At the same time, competition to win reporters' attention is fierce with everybody wanting to get a positive story from a limited number of reporters – with a limited amount of time."