Don't panic Mr Mainwaring!

CG's Laura draws on her experience as a journalist to talk about the importance of a solid crisis communications plan...

During my time as a journalist I had to deal with some funny conversations with businesses. I often had to get comment about issues ranging from planning permission to heating problems and one thing I often encountered was a defensive or unhelpful voice on the end of the line.

It was frustrating because I genuinely wanted to get the other side of the story and I sometimes felt like people were trying to fob me off.

Now, as a PR Executive, itʼs my mission to save this from happening. I know first hand the results can be damaging - ignoring a journalist or passing them from pillar to post in a bid to shake them off can result in a story going in without your right of reply.

Itʼs vital that whoever is responsible for PR responds quickly and for that to happen everyone within the company needs to know how to deal with it and more importantly - not to panic!

Here are my top tips for how a company should deal with journalist enquiries

1. Brief your entire staff base about what to do if a journalist calls. This means everyone - from the tea boy to the managing director. Any person in an organisation could pick up the phone when a journalist calls and itʼs important that they know what to say. Repeat this process regularly to drum the message in - particularly if you have high staff turnover.
2. Set a procedure for how to deal with a call from a journalist. The best way to go about this is to ask for their name, number, what it is they are after and their deadline. Tell them that you will pass the message straight on and someone will get back to them in 15 minutes. This allows time for the message to be relayed and for the person responsible for PR - whether theyʼre in house or at an agency like Carswell Gould - to prepare the information for the journalist.
3. Never use the words ʻno commentʼ. Itʼs a PR professionalʼs job to work with journalists and build a relationship. Saying ʻno commentʼ is tantamount to telling them you donʼt want to talk to them. Not the best idea when you rely on them to put your positive news in the media!
4. Listen to the experts. Agencies like ours deal with the press every day and can handle media queries on your behalf, leaving you to get on doing what you do best - running your business.

If youʼd like CG to be on hand to deal with your crisis communications, journalist enquiries or PR as a whole, get in touch with Gill on 023 80 238001 or email [email protected].