“Why I Surely Could — BUT DO NOT — Hate the Media”

When you’re in PR, reporters can drive you nuts. I mentioned this some two years ago in one of my guest articles in the Pagosa Daily Post.

You wonder if they’ll quote you accurately or quote you the way you would like to be quoted. You find clever ways — you think — to repeat key messages.

Reporters have this annoying habit of going to outside sources. You say one thing, someone else says something different. You know there will be counterpoints to your points. You lose sleep wondering how stories will play out.

It’s like being in the ring. But it’s strangely exhilarating, working through tough questions.

But you don’t hate them. How foolish to hate the media if you value freedom!

Just recently, in the Daily Post, I wrote this about messaging and propaganda:

Maybe they’re like old friends meeting up at a tavern — Messaging, and Propaganda — at times, distanced from one another, but back in the fold again, at the end of the day (You can read the article here).

It’s hard to tell the difference, sometimes, between the two…between messaging and propaganda. So, when you hear someone in politics bellyaching about ‘fake news,’ ask yourself if what they’re saying is messaging or propaganda.