Alex Beall
Alex Beall is a freelance writer based in California.
Most associations don't regularly field an onslaught of media requests, so when a story does break, the organization may not know how to respond. A communications professional shares how to be prepared for the day that the New York Times, and everybody else, calls.
In August 2016, the Associated Press set off a media storm with a story headlined "Medical Benefits of Dental Floss Unproven," and the American Academy of Periodontology—an association focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of gum disease—quickly found itself in the middle of it.
The article, which had included an interview with AAP's then-president Wayne Aldredge, revealed that the USDA had quietly removed flossing from its health guidelines. As more news outlets picked up the story, it became a prime opportunity for the organization to share its core message of preventing gum disease through bushing, flossing, and professional evaluations.
"Understanding that not only is periodontal disease prevalent, but there's a lack of awareness and urgency around it, we've really made it our goal in terms of our public relations efforts to educate and inform the public about caring for their teeth and their gums," says AAP Public Relations Manager Mame Kwayie.
She uses every media opportunity to reinforce that message because AAP has a responsibility to its members and the public.
"This is our area of expertise. If there's something that we know and if there's a conversation happening in the public sphere that we need to chime in on, it's flossing," she says. "We had the opportunity, we had the space, and we had the responsibility as an association to advocate for our members during a really high-profile moment."
But handling the media frenzy wasn't AAP's one shining moment. "This was years and years of building goodwill with media relationships," Kwayie says. "This was years and years of prepping our spokespeople. This was years and years of behind the scenes, small publications, big publications, little blurbs, providing information, and being the go-to source when it comes to periodontal health and gum health."
"We had the opportunity, we had the space, and we had the responsibility as an association to advocate for our members during a really high-profile moment."—Mame Kwayie, American Academy of Periodontology
She offers seven ways that associations can lay the same groundwork so that they are prepared for their own media storms:
1. Identify your message. Associations need to first establish their core message—like AAP's "brush, floss, and get evaluated" mantra—and identify hot topics and concerns that are relevant to both their field and the general public.
This process should include "doing a very educated assessment of what our position is, what's going to be best for our members, what do our members want first and foremost, and what kind of message do we want to project every time we have an opportunity to project or to share our message," Kwayie says.
2. Use every media opportunity. Even a story that seems negative can become a way to spread a positive message. "Always use an opportunity like this to educate with facts, to teach, not to argue, not to hide, and to create a meaningful conversation and a meaningful response," Kwayie says.
3. Choose your spokespeople. Organizations should identify which individuals will act as official spokespeople, so that they and the communications team are prepared before receiving a media request. Spokespeople can include CEOs, other staff executives, the board president, and current and past board members.
4. Train your spokespeople. Each year, AAP brings in a media trainer to prepare its spokespeople for working with the press. But for associations that can't afford a professional trainer, PR staff should sit down with the spokespeople and share tactics for communicating with the media. This training helps to familiarize them with the key message and empowers them to use their natural gifts and expertise to bolster that message.
5. Provide your spokespeople with opportunities to practice. Associations should jump on most, if not all, media opportunities, even when they come from small outlets, because they are chances for spokespeople to practice.
"Take it seriously when the little college newspaper from the middle of nowhere calls for an interview," Kwayie says. "Because not only is it an opportunity for coverage—however small it is—but it's a good way to prepare your spokesperson to get on the phone, to go to the TV studio, to sit with a reporter, and just practice working with the media."
6. Treat the media with respect. Both the communications team and the spokespeople should build strong relationships with the press by being on time for interviews and being respectful of the reporters they speak to.
7. Address major issues online. Should an association find itself in the middle of a breaking news story, it likely won't be able to respond to every media request, which is why social media posts and statements posted online may be beneficial to both the media and the organization.
"There's nothing more frustrating for a reporter than to hear a story about something . . . and you can't get anybody on the phone and there's nothing on the website about it, as if it never happened," Kwayie says. "And it's not a good look for the organization, because when you hide like that, you miss an opportunity to pivot the conversation, to own the conversation, and to educate."