Last week we received our copy of Newsweek, and a pair of slightly widened eyes stared back at us, “The Queen of Rage.” There it was – a cover story that the Michele Bachmann camp may not have expected.
This got us thinking about lessons that could be drawn from this regarding media opportunities, cover stories and the ability to control a message.
Newsweek is undeniably a respected top-tier publication, so a cover story opportunity would appear to be an easy decision for anyone. However it is important to always analyze the benefits and risks of an opportunity before accepting.
At the end of the day, a journalist or editor has the right to publish a story as they see fit. When accepting media opportunities, there is always a risk that the story published may be unflattering to the people involved. At Russo Partners, we strive to minimize the risk to the client through background research on the publication and journalist, keeping the client’s best interest as the top priority.
Although there is always an uncontrolled element when working with a publication, conducting background research prior to accepting an opportunity is crucial to our work and for our clients. What is the tone of the overall publication? What recent articles have been written by the journalist? What is the topic and angle for the article, and where will it appear eventually? These are all questions that need to be answered to our satisfaction before we will recommend that a client proceeds with a media opportunity.
So even if the opportunity is with a top-tier publication, even if the article will appear on the front cover, we recommend proceeding with caution, because, as strange as it sounds, sometimes the cover isn’t where you want to be.
