Media Adviser’s Perspective

1. Media Adviser’s Perspective

2. Literature Review • News Frames • Pilot study and findings • The contested space • How the media obtains stories • How journalists operate • Tips – dos and don’ts • Take away message Overview

3. Journalism involves: “criticism, or editorialising, or the conferral of judgment on the shape of things” Stuart Adam, 1993 Journalists as: “conveyors of information but as producers of culture, who impart preference statements about what is good and bad, moral and amoral, and appropriate and inappropriate in the world” Barbie Zelizer, 2004

4. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

5. Media has a significant influence on community perception of employment disputes • Few members of the community have direct contact with employment disputes in our courts and draw knowledge from daily media coverage • At times, employment disputes dominate the news agenda (ie Slipper/Ashby) Introduction

6. Winners and losers • Heroes and villains • Criticism and controversy • Trend or change? • New! Unusual! Different! What is news?

7. How we use frames • Shorthand – a way of understanding and interpreting the world • Joining the dots What is a news frame?

8. Packaging news reports: • Straight news account (basic info) • Conflict story • Consensus story • Conjecture story • Heroes/villains story (court story) • Reaction story • Wrongdoing/exposure story • Personality profile Frames for news stories

9. The Contested Space

10. Case Study – Heather Mills sued by nanny Sara Trumble, the nanny who used to take care of wee Beatrice McCartney, is suing Bea's mum, Heather Mills, because "Mills required her to blow-dry Mills' hair, work unreasonable hours, and spray-tan a naked Mills." Mills denies the accusations and her flack says, "Heather is devastated that Sara, who Heather considered a part of her family, should choose to level these accusations at her. This claim will be vigorously defended." 

11. What narrative techniques do journalists use to frame the news? • Do some stories contain underlying messages? • Are journalists influenced by bias, ideology and other perspectives in determining the nature of news? Source: “Framing the News-The Triggers, Frames and Messages in Newspaper Coverage” 1998 Project for Excellence in Journalism www.journalism.org Pilot study

12. Identified various narrative frames used to presentnews • Straight news accounts (the inverted pyramid frame) accounted for a surprising small number of front page stories (only 16%) • Press coverage is increasingly thematic and interpretative Findings of Pilot Study (1)

13. The press shows a tendency to present the news through a “combative lens” • These narrative frames – conflict, winner and losers and revealing wrongdoing – accounted for 30 per cent of all stories • This is twice the number of straight news accounts Findings of Pilot Study (2)

14. Policy stories accounted for only 8 % of the stories on page one • Presumption by journalists and their editors that readers don’t care about policy – or its impact • Local papers – rely on traditional straight news accounts • National papers – more interpretative and try to put news in large perspective Findings of Pilot Study (3)

15. Building stories around conflict, winners and losers in employment disputes - and revealing either injustice or wrongdoing - has become the most common way of framing the news • The media has taken on a decidedly interpretative cast in its presentation of news Some conclusions from the study

16. Court documents for information on the court file - affidavit • Attending court hearings • Tip-offs How the media gets its stories

17. Hunt in packs • Pre-determine story angles • Trained to be sceptical • Driven by deadlines About journalists

18. My experience – OPI in court • Artz case • Role as intermediary between media and investigators • Not commenting on matters before the court ISokay In court

19. Peter Slipper (Ashby hired PR practitioner) • Slater and Gordon employment case – Cheryl Smith/ Herald Sun • Craig Thompson (his own solicitor responds to media issues ieclient being strip searched) Case Studies

20. DOs • Lawyers should be ready for all eventualities – and media strategy should be included in litigation planning • Be mindful of matters before the courts Tips for dealing with the media

21. DON’Ts • Holdimpromptu press conferences outside the court without preparation • Speak off the record (no such thing) Tips for dealing with the media

22. It is appropriate to say “no comment” if matters are before the courts (although if before magistrate, you can’t influence their final decision) • There are dozens of employment disputes in public domain (is your newsworthy?) Remember….

23. Engaging with the media – • how far should you go? • how is it best managed? • How will your court case or legal dispute will be framed by the media • Are you a good guy or on the side of darkness? Take away message

24. Preparing a risk mitigation strategy for your high-profile case • Applying these principles when dealing with the media In summary

25. Need help?