Feeding the Media Beast: An Easy Recipe for Great Publicity

By Mark E. Mathis

Book Overview

Would you participate in a contest in which you do not know the rules? What if the success of your organization or your personal reputation were at stake? Don't answer so quickly. Every day millions... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557532478
• ISBN13: 9781557532473
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Purdue Univ Pr
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Shows the Strategies of PR and Publicity

As a media strategist, I have endured circumstances in which the company clearly did not know what Mark Mathis is teaching. Fundamentally, says Mathis, the media is an animal needing to be fed. They need your help, and it's your job as a company or concern to ensure they get three square meals. Remember reporters and editors -- like real people -- have limits on their time, knowledge and experience. They have misconceptions, biases, ignorance, and in general -- they are human. Mathis shows you how to respond to this humanity, positioning your company to be covered favorably and frequently by the media. Broken down into 12 rules, he presents not the technicalities of writing a press releasee or how to do public speaking. Rather, "Feeding the Media Beast" is about strategic principles. The key to do it all is to think like a teacher, to be prepared and to never let up. A teacher keeps it simple and repeats his message. You prepare for whatever the reporter may throw at you, but you also provide consistent resources for that same reporter prior top, during and after the interview. Why? Because it'll increase the likelihood you'll be quoted in a more accurate context, and that whenever the reporter needs information on your issue or topic, you'll get the call. You are just making the reporter's job easy. Sell your story on its emotional merits as well as through the facts, he says in Chapter 9, "The Rule of Education." Remember what us your passion might not be obvious to the unaware reporter. Help him tell your story. This might include anecdotes, publicity stunts and cheap gimmicks. Call it hype, but if done well, it can reap great, colorful attention to your cause. Be forward thinking is the theme of "the Rule of Timing." Opportunities are all fleeting, and require a correct, creative response. Mathis tells us of former President Bill Clinton's ability to push forth his agenda when a national event like the OJ trial was occurring. Ideas which might not have gone over well went unnoticed because the nation was captivated by white vans and gloves which did not fit. Bias, Mathis remarks, exists. This is particularly evident in matters of religion as indicated by overwhelmingly persuasive statistics. The media is generally swinging toward the left, as shown through a 1992 Roper Poll which said a full 89% voted for Bill Clinton, and only 7% voted for Bush, Sr. You, the publicity person, must realize this and work within this fact. See Goldberg's "Bias" for more on this. Buy "Feeding the Media Beast," by Mark Mathis. He makes his case and states it well, with statistics, examples and personal credential. I fully recommend this book. Anthony Trendl editor, HungarianBookstore.com

The one book every small business owner should read

It isn't enough in this day and age to have an interesting public relations story; it also has to be presented simply and powerfully to engage the media. If you are looking at how you can garner greater public recognition without the high costs of advertisement, this is the book to read. Mathis gives an easy to read and intriguing overview of the public relations business and how to make your own business stick out amidst the frenzy of information with which the media is constantly bombarded. It is indispensable especially if you are running your own small business.I have been in business for myself as a photographer for over 20 years. I have spent countless hours in self-promotion trying to find more notable ways to get my story across and the media interested. After reading Mathis, I realize just how much I can still improve my method of handling the media and using it to my own advantage. Mathis provides 12 rules with a wealth of examples about companies which have used them successfully as well as companies that have failed miserably because their campaign didn't adhere to them. His extensive case stories provide significant understanding of the simple nature of public relations, the difficulty in working with it and the tremendous success possible if you master it.Mathis' strongest advice is about preparation. Most businesses spend a lot of time in managing and developing products and services, but when it comes to public relations, companies often run blindly into the media. Mathis highlights that PR-savvy companies have a plan. Media contacts are not sporadic and blind shots in the dark, rather they are carefully planned out and include a variety and repetition of contacts. One effort is not enough; you have to contact local and national media again and again and again. His discussion of how to prepare for media interviews provides strategic insights into what you need to do in order to get your point across and make sure that reporters report what you want. All too often people believe the media wants to hear the entire story with all the minor details to ensure that their new story is accurate. Mathis points out how you can prepare to make a story that is easy for a reporter to digest and that makes certain that your most important points aren't misquoted. These book details how you can develop hard-hitting, headline worthy statements. I have already found ample opportunity to apply Mathis' understandings of the Public Relations Beast and believe that many others can as well.

Mysterious Media or Predictable Publicity

Mark Mathis has a wicked sense of wit and connects immediately with the reader by first building up your self-confidence and then taking you deep into the mind of the Media Beast. He dispels the myth of unpredictability and guides you through the publicity process. Feeding the Media Beast is a extremely well organized book. First the author tells you what he is going to present to you and the proceeds to deliver a delicious array of pithy comments, witty remarks, insightful solutions, examples you can relate to, concise descriptions and snappy quotes. This book is well researched and to the point. The text is snappy and fresh and the author often displays an uncommon perspective. He presents unique ideas on conveying information and shows you how to use this highly potent marketing machine to promote your product or idea. I was rather impressed with how succinctly and honestly Mark Mathis describes the Media Beast and its voracious appetites. He shows you exactly how to serve up a story the beast won't be able to resist. In fact, he says it is quite predictable. "When a Media Leader latches onto your story, big things are bound to happen." So, how exactly do you get the Media Beast to pay attention and hunger for your information? It seems that once you understand the nature of the beast, you can follow twelve simple rules to success. Mark Mathis has worked as a television reporter, columnist and talk radio host. In the past few years, he has been teaching the Media Rules. These rules include the Rule of Difference, Emotion, Simplicity, Preparation, Easy, Repetition, Resource, Invention, Timing, Ego, Balance, Ambush. You might be especially intrigued by how he answers the following questions: 1. Why do reporters seem to have a worldview that differs from the general population? 2. Why do reporters tend to support liberal positions? 3. Where do journalists come from? 4. Why is the most popular news often irrelevant to your community? 5. How do you make a reporter care about your story? 6. Are you prepared to give an interview? 7. Do you know what the Media Beast wants for dinner? 8. Is bad publicity avoidable? 9. How can you get reporters to call you for your expert opinions? 10. How do you avoid the traps even PR professionals fall into? Mark Mathis explores all angles, highlights simple truth and elaborates with anecdotes that will often make you laugh. You will learn how to make a difference in the world, create a compelling message and utilize DES (difference, emotion and simplicity). Feeding the Media Beast is for anyone who views the news, produces the news, wants to be in the news or has been burned by the news. Fear the Beast no more! Even if he is knocking at your door. ~The Rebecca Review

Mathis knows media

Media maven Mark Mathis not only knows media and how to toot his own horn, but he can show you how to toot yours. He knows that big corporations typically have a fleet of PR people scurrying about trying to manage the media. He notes that in 1996 Microsoft had an estimated 500 PR people, Time Warner had 300. (p. 112) Although it would seem that Time Warner ought to be more media savvy than Microsoft, Mathis's point is, who has more money and how do you think they got it? According to Mathis, part of the reason that Windows 95 swamped IBM's OS/2 is that Bill Gates and company did a much better job of managing the media (p. 113)Mathis also knows that CEOs lie awake nights dreaming of schemes to seduce the media, to get some of that FREE publicity that is better than any kind of advertising. In this book he tells them how.Mathis's formula caricatures the media into a dumb beast that can be controlled (the clever cartoons by Eric Garcia of the "beast" nicely augment the text), and presents sound-byte advice in twelve chapters each with a media "rule": keep it "simple"; make it "easy"; infuse it with "emotion"; make it "different"; be "prepared" (anticipate obvious questions and have snappy quips at the ready); "repeat," etc. He peppers his prose with lively examples, funny asides, and pithy illustrations. He recalls such media coups as the brilliant "planned spontaneity" of US soccer star Brandi Chastain who stripped to her black sports bra after kicking the winning goal against China at the 1999 World Cup championship. And he notes lost opportunities as when Dan Quayle got ambushed by Lloyd Bensen in a debate with the memorable, "Senator Quayle, I knew Jack Kennedy...and you, sir, are no Jack Kennedy." Mathis suggests that had Quayle been better prepared he might have come back with, "You're right, Mr. Benson. I've been faithful to my wife." (p. 96)This is a media book lively enough to keep a tired CEO awake during an all-nighter to Singapore and uplifting enough to give encouragement to the depressed PR director of a sewage company. The Beast, according to Mathis in the opening chapter is "Handicapped, Hungry, Harried, and Human" In Chapter Six we find that the beast also has "Heartburn." And how does he spell relief?: "E-a-s-y," as in, make things easy for the beast. (pp. 113-114)Reporters are characterized as underpaid, under-educated (p. 11), overworked, and not entirely bright, particularly with numbers and complex stories (see pages 73 and 76). Indeed, Mathis, an ex-reporter himself, does a little reporter bashing along the way just to make those CEOs and PR guys he's addressing feel confident. He warns against the liberal bias of the media, noting that reporters "tend to think they are smarter, more worldly, and, in general, more enlightened than the rest of us." (p. 21) I guess Mathis ought to know. But what he doesn't say is that the liberal bias of the reporters is overshadowed by the conservative bias of the owners. (Guess which slant win