The Hindu : News handlers for the newsmakers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

News handlers for the newsmakers

By V. Geetanath

HYDERABAD, MARCH 29. If candidates contesting for any election cannot do without hardcore party activists and personal supporters to help them in their campaigning, public relations officers and media coordinators or advisors have also become vital cogs these days.

Though almost all parties have people appointed exclusively to deal with the media at the headquarters and even at the city level, contesting candidates are feeling the need to have their own men to take care of their `interests'.

Launch of exclusive news channels and news broadcasts mean that candidates ignore `visibility' at their own risk. Even in print media, with election specials and zonal supplements there is that much more space available to get closer to the prospective voters to home in the message.

"Any contesting candidate has more things to deal with than he can handle during campaign time. Media is an effective medium to reach out to the voters and to help in the build up of a positive image. We act as a bridge between the media and the candidates," says a media coordinator of a prominent candidate contesting polls in the city.

Public perception of a candidate is another aspect covered. "For a newcomer, we have to introduce him to the masses through the media by making the latter show interest in him. For a seasoned politician, the positives are sought to be highlighted," says a PRO.

If a politician is perceived to be a man of the masses, the effort would be to take him `closer' to the `class' voters and vice versa by talking of issues closer to both sides of the society and about achievements made in the previous tenure. "We have to keep harping on the positives all the time as the media quickly gets onto anything negative," argues another PRO.

Other than organising press meets, informal interactions with newsmen to get feedback and issuing press releases, they also keep a scan on news developments on various media, burning topics and allegations made by the opposition.

"We have to come up with a quick counter strategy to counter allegations or misinformation spread by the opponents," says a media advisor. But, more often than not the PRO or media coordinator rarely `advises' the candidate particularly if he or she is a senior politician. "We discuss but we stay within our limits because he is the boss," reveals a PRO.

Placement of news is the wrenching job. "There are times when we have to ensure that our news get proper display in the newspaper. Within a constituency itself, the area pages could be different which means news might not reach other areas," points out a media coordinator.

Smart PROs are also conscious of a newspaper or television channel's basic philosophy to enable them to provide information to that extent. "Reputation is built over a period of time and here the challenge is to do the job in less than two months. Giving the media what it wants, disseminating the right information, creating awareness about the leaders, highlighting issues of public importance are some of the key issues involved," says a senior PR practitioner.

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