Overcome your fear of the media
Professional stereotypes are rarely accurate. That’s why many conscientious solicitors working long hours for only modest rewards must feel a little galled at the clichéd image of fat cat lawyers getting rich quick at the public’s expense.
But then many conscientious journalists working hard on local newspapers for similarly modest returns feel equally aggrieved to be thought of as gutter press hacks who’d misquote their own granny for a quick scoop.
Of course, deep down, we all know that both stereotypes are nonsense but even so, in the back of our minds, some doubts can linger.
One thing that often strikes me while presenting media courses to solicitors is the way many of them distrust the press; not solicitors who’ve already had some publicity. They know there’s little to fear and are more relaxed.
But for many of those who have yet to meet a reporter, somewhere deep in the psyche, is the feeling that if you dabble with the demon press you will be misquoted, misrepresented and made to wish you had never been born.
At which point I can hear a thousand local newspaper journalists up and down the country screaming out: Why? Where does this notion come from? It isn’t true, just as the cliché about fat cat lawyers isn’t true.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of those reporters are extremely honest, very conscientious and have no agenda to attack you at all.
In fact, the opposite is true. Your local paper will do its best to make you look good. If that stretches your credulity then please consider the facts as opposed to the myths.
Most solicitors who get publicity in their local press do so by commenting on legal developments or by announcing news within their firm such as charity work, the appointment of new staff, free seminars etc. Each time a paper carries such a story it is implicitly saying that you and your firm are worthy of its attention. Why else would it carry the story?
That being the case, it’s in the paper’s interests to talk you up. The more important it can make you appear, the more important its story will appear. Take a look at such articles in your local paper. Notice how many times the solicitor or the firm are described in flattering terms.
For example, it’s become a cliché to describe the person being quoted as a “leading” or a “top” solicitor. One thing is for sure, you never see anyone described as a “mediocre” or “downright bad solicitor”.
Remember, the paper wants to emphasise its own credentials and to do that it will make you look as good as possible.
This sometimes brings out another fear; the fear that you don’t know enough to be quoted in the press, or that you will be asked a question you can’t answer and so you will look foolish.
These fears are equally ungrounded. The fact is that the level of legal detail required is very low. Papers are writing for the general public. They don’t want chapter and verse.
In any case, most of the your publicity will come from writing your own press releases so you will have as much time as you like to get it right. You won’t have to speak to a reporter on most occasions. But if by some rare chance a reporter phones and asks a question you aren’t sure about, then all you have to do is ask for a little time to check. He won’t think it strange and he won’t mind.
This isn’t just an academic argument to stand up for journalists. There is a real issue at stake here for solicitors. A misguided wariness of the press is depriving many firms of the lifeblood of publicity; publicity that could boost their business. And it’s all free.
It’s hard to see why anyone would want to ignore that in a world that is becoming ever more competitive.
If you still aren’t convinced then ask yourselves why so many large, successful firms make the effort to get themselves in the papers as often as possible. They certainly don’t do it to be denigrated.
The reality is that publicity from news stories will work for you. That’s why the big firms keep coming back for more.
But you don’t have to be big to get in on the act. Button and Co in Coventry have been extremely successful in promoting themselves by placing news stories in the local press. If you were to judge size and importance purely by who gets the most coverage in the Coventry Evening Telegraph, then Button and Co is the largest, most successful practice in the area.
However, according to Waterlows, this is a two-partner firm. By making the effort, they can punch above their weight and compete with the best of them. They have learnt that there is nothing to fear and everything to gain from approaching the press.
There’s nothing to stop any lawyer doing the same. But there is perhaps one other niggling doubt. This time, ironically, it’s embarrassment at being at being made to look good, described in complimentary terms in front of your peers.
But such feelings soon fade after you’ve had a few stories published so don’t worry about it. Those already being quoted in the papers certainly don’t worry. They’re too busy enjoying the benefits of publicity and the increased business it brings.
You’ve nothing to lose but fear and prejudice; and yet everything to gain, including a higher profile and more clients.
Surely that’s not a bad return for ditching an outdated stereotype and exploding a few myths.
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This article first appeared in the Solicitors Journal.
Nick Kehoe is a former News Editor with ITV. He now runs Media Coverage, a company offering CPD accredited media courses and providing press releases and newsletters for law firms.
Contact Media Coverage, Suites 1-13, Imex Business Park, Shobnall Road, Burton on Trent, DE 14 2AZ.
www.media-coverage.co.uk Email: nk@media-coverage.co.uk.
Phone 01283 566270.
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