The Art of Media Calling: Challenges and Key Learnings

It is no surprise to many that one of the challenging tasks assigned to a Public Relations practitioner is to maintain media relations. When I was at LEWIS PR Malaysia, I was tasked to call up the media for several reasons. The objectives behind media calls are to ensure the master media database for internal use is up-to-date, to secure a confirmation of invitational reception, and to acquire an indication of an RSVP for any corporate activities. 

As easy as it may sound, I find it really challenging at times to get in touch with the media in order to accomplish the tasks that I was allocated with. It was a learning curve for me to juggle between priorities such as who to call first and who to call later, taking into consideration of the deadlines given by my managers. By calling the media, I learnt that there is a "perfect time" in a day to call certain publications in order to get through to the person you intend to talk to. From my experience, I have came up with a few time slots that I believe are ideal in getting in touch with the media in Malaysia. 

1. Magazine Publishers - Between 10.30am - 12.00pm
2. Newspaper Publishers - Between 2.00pm - 4.30pm and 5.30pm - 6.30pm
3. TV Broadcasters - At around 11.00am and at about 4.00pm

Taking the ideal time slots in mind, not only was I able to get in touch with the media effectively, but I was also able to establish positive relations with the media.

Additionally, being patient is also just as important as calling the media at a good time. When I was calling the media to get a confirmation of receipt and RSVP for Samsung Galaxy S5's product launch, I was able to talk to people with different personalities. These personalities can range from kind and friendly approaches to feisty and agitated responses. Although a time frame was there functioning as a guide, at times, you might be calling the media at an unfavourable time. The key approach to a negative response is to be patient and to put yourself in the media's shoes. In other words, you need to understand that the media has got duties to attend to as well. At the same time, this does not mean you need to take a bullet yourself. It was hard for me at first, but in the lapse of time, I was able to get the confirmations and updates I needed in order to accomplish the duties I was tasked to achieve. 

Thirdly, it is crucial for you to humanise your approach in order to get a feedback out of individual willingness. In other words, you would have to be friendly when calling the media, just as how you would talk to your mates. Having said that, you would have to make an effort in remembering names and details about the person whom you have talked to. Thus, not only you can achieve your objectives, but you can also establish and maintain positive media relations. A friend of mine from Edelman whom I met at an award giving ceremony once gave me this important tip has helped me in many situations. With these in mind, I usually get positive responses from the media in regards to achieving my objectives at hand.

To sum up, the art of media calling has been an interesting learning curve for me as an intern and I am glad to have acquired multiple key learnings from the opportunity provided by the course unit. I have also provided you with a few articles that I believe to be helpful and relevant with regards to managing media relations. 

Thank you so much for your time and have a pleasant day ahead.

Adrian.     

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