Ms. Gini Dietrich

At my firm, we like to get on our soap box about how PR professionals and media "spin" the truth. We have an entire blog dedicated to the subject. I'm ethical to a fault and I don't find any use in spinning a story or a message because it will end up hurting you worse in the long run. Eventually someone will discover the truth and expose you and it could put you out of business. And it really gets under my skin when someone says to me, "Oh you're one of those people." As if we all lie to get our clients ahead in the public eye.

Take, for instance, the Firestone tire debacle several years ago. Instead of coming out and saying the tires were defective and taking the initiative to recall them, they stuck their heads in the sand and pretended there wasn't a problem. When consumers began suing, they business went under and they had to rebuild the company. I'm 100 percent confident had they told the truth and didn't spin the story, no matter how controversial, there would have been a different outcome.

A completely different example is Britney Spears. I know, I know. Why does anyone talk about Britney Spears? She uses media to keep her name out there and she's one who believes any press is good press. I'm here to tell you that just isn't true. I don't know how many people have any respect for her, but I'm willing to guess it's slim to none. Instead of getting her life in order and using celebrity media to tell her rags to riches story, she's living her life in the public eye.

I'm guessing you don't fall in either of these categories, but that you have great reason to speak with reporters. It's a pretty intimidating idea because you can't control what they write about you. But 99.9 percent of reporters are not there to hurt you or to tell a bad story about your company. So there's no need to spin a story. But there is a need to be prepared and I'm going to teach you how to do that.

My article "Media Training: 13 Tips to Consider Before Talking to a Reporter" in the Hotel Business Review gives you tips and pointers on handling yourself during media interviews. Go forth and conquer.

Sincerely,

Gini Dietrich
Chief Executive Officer
Arment Dietrich, Inc.
312-787-7249
www.armentdietrich.com
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