Self-Defense for Investigative Journalism

There was an interesting story this week on ABC15 here in Phoenix. Their investigative reports team, “The !nvestigators,” (the exclamation point isn’t a typo, that’s the way they spell it,) followed a 19 year-old woman as she went to various Valley retailers – Circle K, Safeway, etc. – and bought alcohol without proper ID. (Read the story here.)

These spots are very common in local news. And there is no denying it is GREAT television. Watching some poor guy block his face from the camera while a pinhead reporter stabs a microphone at him, blurting out foolish questions... what fun!

But what if that guy is you? What if the business is yours? In fact, what if the story starts with a letter sent by the disgruntled customer or a hidden camera in one of your stores, and they just don’t give all the facts?

Who’s on your side?

If you prepare for a worst-case scenario like this before it happens, the damage can be alleviated. ER-PR, Off Madison Ave’s own public relations shock team, was created with just this purpose in mind. Any time bad news comes, day or night, you will be able to contact us. We will then marshal our forces according to the strategy we planned with you. Rather than take a dangerously expensive hit from local journalists, you will be able to quickly get your side of the story out and shore up the damage.

You can get in touch with the ER-PR team at 1-888-OMA-ER-PR or by email at ERPR@offmadisonave.com.

Just remember: Creating a PR crisis management strategy is a whole lot like preparing for a flood: Neither one mean much after the bad news has come.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)