Chief Executive Magazine editor William J. Holstein thinks CEO’s should take one or two reporters under their wing to counter the terrible state of business news coverage.
His complaints about the nation’s business media echo those we often hear about local and trade press, as well:
“Tens of thousands of seasoned journalists have been fired, downsized, outsourced or just plain canned in the past few years. The mantra is, “Let’s bring in the children.” ... When CEOs see business reporters coming in the front door, they are usually unseasoned and naïve.
There seems to be a stampede toward covering business as an extension of lifestyle, whether fashion or music or games or sports. Fortune magazine now has a managing editor with absolutely no business journalism experience...
The line of business coverage has gotten “stuck” in a kind of ideological, anti-CEO rut. ... So long after the worst abuses have been cleaned up and Sarbanes-Oxley has created a profoundly different climate in boardrooms, the media is still harping on “the evil CEO” bandwagon. The world has moved on. The U.S. business media hasn’t.
... My best piece of advice is to identify one journalist or one news organization and cultivate a relationship. It could be as simple as inviting one or more representatives from that organization to come see you periodically so that you can explain what a CEO does for a living. Most journalists don’t really know..."
I appreciate Mr. Holstein’s sentiments. But let me add a few reality checks from the trenches:
Where’s the real bias? ... No, the world has not “moved on” from the abuses that spawned SOX and the Enron trial. Quite the contrary. And to say that business coverage is “anti-CEO” is exactly the kind of myopic rationalization that many executives use to justify not talking to the press about issues that increasingly define corporate reputation – things like transparency, accountability, social responsibility and fairness.
Spread the word ... It’s risky to put too much stock into a single reporter or media outlet. Jobs and agendas change, relationships go sour and media consumers move around. Instead, start by listing the 10 editors, producers, reporters and columnists who most influence those who matter most to your bottom line. These are the people you need to be talking to, in good times and bad. Start now.
Read between the lines ... As often as a reporter doesn’t know what occupies a CEO, so are many corporate executives oblivious to what motivates that same reporter. Your working relationship with the business media is only as good as your understanding of the media business. You must appreciate, for example, how a negative news story doesn’t vaporize because you refuse to talk about it or threaten to pull your advertising. This goes way beyond being coached for interviews. Get inside the news media’s head, the same way they want to get into yours. You’ll both enjoy each other’s company a lot more.
Know what your PR people don’t ... One reason many reporters don’t better understand the companies they cover is because neither do their assigned flacks. For every journalist I’ve ever clued in on the big picture, I’ve dealt with twice as many clueless PR staffers or account executives pumping out press releases and “story pitches” in relative ignorance about the complexities of the business world they’re supposed to represent. Ensure that you’ve got knowledgeable, articulate people carrying your water.
Not sure? Interview your PR people about your company, industry and the things that keep you up at night. Then have them interview you.
You may be in for an eye-opening executive experience.
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** SOURCES **
Chief Executive Magazine | Why Media Coverage of Business is So Bad--and Why It May Be Time for CEOs to “Adopt” a Journalist
