Gaining Semicontrol Over the

Media: Broadcast Appearances

Broadcast appearances by corporate executives and other

spokespersons allow corporations to gain greater control over

messages disseminated through the mass media. Messages are no

longer delivered to newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters and

left there for their gatekeepers to decide on whether or how to use

the materials.With broadcast appearances, the “sender” delivers the

messages directly to television and radio audiences. As someone

who is interviewed on a broadcast medium or appears on a panel,

he or she has wide latitude in deciding what to say. The

interviewer or moderator, of course, sets the agenda and asks

questions, but the interviewee or participant can carefully compose

answers and skillfully interpose messages he or she wants to

transmit. The sender in the communication process thereby

establishes semicontrol over the media, the degree depending

largely on the communication skills of the spokesperson. Although

these skills vary widely among corporate individuals, they can be

enhanced through training programs and advice, such as this

chapter provides. Semicontrol, however, does involve risks.

On television the camera reveals all and, in Ronald Reagan’s

words, “The camera doesn’t lie.”1 Larry King, the well-known talk

show host, elaborated on Reagan’s statement: “People are

transparent when you put them in front of the cameras, which is

why we use lots of close-ups. No one, not the most disciplined

performer, can control every gesture, every expression all the time

—but those things all transmit important information to viewers.”

2 As stated by Vice President Al Gore, “The television camera

really is a kind of personality X-ray machine.… Over time the

character of the individuals being judged by the American people

will be more or less accurately assessed” through television.3

POLITICS ILLUSTRATES THE POWER OF TELEVISION

Of the two broadcast media, radio and television, television is

usually the most effective and efficient means of communicating to

large audiences. Local and network television is the source from

which most Americans receive their news. Viewers actually watch

television programs about 12 hours a week (although their TV sets

are on between 22 and 28 hours a week).4

From a propaganda viewpoint, the major advantage of

reaching audiences through television is people simply receive

what is dished out to them through inadvertent exposure. They do

so uncritically because their defense mechanisms are set at “low”

or “off.” Communication theorists call this behavior information

processing, which is variously described as passive learning or

learning without involvement, in contrast to “information

seeking.”5

Television has another attribute: viewing has become a

habit similar to a drug. An addicted person spends a great deal of

time using a substance, uses it more often than intended; makes

repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce use; gives up important

social, family, or occupational activities to use it; and reports

withdrawal symptoms when use is stopped. When researchers

beeped into people who were watching TV, people reported feeling

relaxed and passive. EEG studies similarlyshowed less mental

stimulation during viewing than during reading. TV has such a

hold on people because of their orienting response—the instinctive

visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. It’s a

built-in sensitivity to movement and potential predatory threats.

People remember what they have seen when the program has many

edits— a change from one camera angle to another in the same

visual scene. However, there’s a limit: If the number of cuts

exceeds 10 in 2 minutes, recognition drops off sharply.6

The effectiveness of television is best illustrated by its

widening use and success in political campaigns. Reflecting the

properties of information processing, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, in

her book Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy,

tells how television grants creators of campaign discourse “some

Svengalian powers” that print and radio lack. The visual capacity

of television enables politicians to “reconfigure ‘reality’ in ways

that heighten the power of the visceral appeal” and “make the

analytic processing of rapidly emerging claims all but

impossible.”7

Cognitive psychologists explain this effect by pointing out

that visuals are processed peripherally “on the edges of

consciousness, where critical acuity does not come into play.”8

The testing of evidence and evaluating of propositions does not

occur in the absence of central processing. What counts, therefore,

is not the quality of arguments but the presumed expertise or

attractiveness of the communicator.9

This attribute of visual communication is exploited in

negative political advertising. Jamieson describes the Bush

campaign’s famous Willie Horton ad, which dramatized the

message that George Bush was toughm on crime and Michael

Dukakis was soft on crime. A bright picture of a smiling Bush

says, “Bush supports the death penalty for first-degree murderers.”

A dark photo of Dukakis (in which his hair is unkempt) then

appears and a voice says, “Dukakis not only opposes the death

penalty, he allows first-degree murderers to have weekend passes

from prison.”10 The emotional words “kidnapping,” “stabbing,”

and “raping” appear on the screen with Horton’s picture, and the

announcer adds, “Horton fled, kidnaping a young couple, stabbing

the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend.” Another “revolving

door” ad sequence showed a bleak prison scene and “then cut to a

procession of convicts circling through a revolving gate and

marching toward the nation’s living rooms.”11

Argument, engagement, and accountability—Jamieson’s

criteria for judging political discourse—are absent in this political

ad. An assertion made in a 30-second ad is not the same as

argument, which is backed up by facts and logical reasoning

intended to demonstrate the truth or legitimacy of a proposition.

Argument takes more time than a sound bite allows.12

Gone, however, are the hour-long speeches typical of the

19th century, which allowed the advancement of the argument. In

1988, an average stump speech was under 17 minutes, answers in

debates between 1 and 2 minutes, candidate sound bites on CBS,

ABC, and NBC evening news programs 9.8 seconds, and

presidential campaign ads 30 seconds.13 Candidates have learned

to speak in sound bites. Even

low-key Walter Mondale, in a debate with Gary Hart in 1984,

skewered his opponent by saying, “When I hear your new ideas,

I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’”14 Because political

debates do not allow sufficient time for in-depth arguments, “beef

” is in short supply. The criterion of engagement—“a process of

comparison that enables audiences to determine which argument

has the greater force”—was thus violated.15 At least

accountability was present because the audience heard words

spoken by the actual candidates and not some faceless announcer

as in the Willie Horton ads.

If corporations were allowed to present advocacy ads on

television, the “marketplace of ideas” would be in jeopardy of

deteriorating into the kind of abbreviated sound bites characteristic

of political advertising. In broadcast appearances by corporate

executives and other employees, however, accountability is at least

assured, and depending on the professionalism of the interviewer,

arguments may be demanded. On programs such as the

LehrerNewsHour, where both sides of an issue are typically

presented, engagement is also possible. However, as participants in

broadcast appearances become increasingly sophisticated, the

pressure to win an argument drives them to copy the methods of

political campaigning, as a subsequent section on learning how to

“speak TV” will demonstrate.

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR BROADCAST

APPEARANCES

With increased opportunities to appear on radio and television talk

shows, executives and spokespersons, such as scientists, are

learning to take advantage of the semicontrol they can exercise

through these access media. The challenges in dealing with these

media are (a) to select those that best reach desired audiences and

(b) to enlarge the semicontrol aspect in your favor.

There is no lack of broadcast stations in the United States.

As of September 2002, there were 1,714 television stations and

13,296 radio stations. 16 Network television talk shows include

Good Morning America, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, The

Tonight ShowWith Jay Leno, Larry King Live, Late Show With

David Letterman, and Sunday Today. Syndicated shows include

Geraldo, Oprah, Regis and Kelly, Maury Povich, Sally Jesse

Raphael, and Jenny Jones.17

Talk radio has also flourished, as these facts show:

• The early 1990s witnessed an explosion of talk programs,

reaching 1,168 stations in 1994 from 360 in 1990.18

• Fifty-six percent of carbound adults and 85% of all Americans

aged 12 and older tune into the radio during morning driving time

(6–10 a.m. weekdays).

• During afternoon driving time (3–7 p.m.), 60% of commuters and

80% of all Americans tune in.19

• The popular Rush Limbaugh show broadcasts on more than 650

stations, representing about 20 million listeners. His audience is

97% white, 60% male and middle-aged, and it generally dislikes

the national press, according to the Times Mirror Center for People

and the Press.20

The impact of radio talk shows is enormous. They are

credited with the passage of California’s Proposition 13 and the

spreading of the idea of local tax limits across the nation. In

Massachusetts, Jerry Williams, host of Boston’s WRKO,

singlehandedly forced repeal of his state’s seatbelt law.21 Talk

shows were also credited for the November 1994 Republican

election victory, partly because about 70% of the country’s talk

radio hosts call themselves conservative.22 In the 2002 elections,

the talk shows may have contributed to the Democratic election

losses of the Senate majority and six House seats. These hosts are

recipients of faxes and talking points from Republican leaders.

Many brag about their new status as political power brokers.23

Some of their methods, however, are often outrageous, as

illustrated in Box 5.1.

Most talk shows are conservative, ranging from right to

extreme right, says Joe Conason. Following Rush Limbaugh is

Sean Hannity, with an audience of more than 10 million. Among

the top 10 radio hosts there is not a single liberal.24 Looking for

ways to deliver their message to voters beyond the Beltway,

Democrats were planning to launch a national talk show,

Democracy Radio, in January 2004. Ed Schulz, a radio personality

with a liberal bent. who hosts a radio program broadcast on seven

stations in the Dakotas, has been signed on.25

Talk shows affect business as well as politics, partly

because business coverage has grown in recent years. A well-

known example is the appearance of a Florida man on CNN’s

Larry King Live who said his wife died of cancer because she used

a cellular phone. Eight days later, the stock price of Motorola, the

biggest maker of cellular phones, dropped 20%—despite the lack

of scientific studies on the question.26

Some major corporate executives have also been treated

like celebrities by the media—first built up by the media and then

taken down. This happened to Robert C. Stempel of General

Motors, John F. Akers of IBM, and James D. Robinson III of

American Express. These executives are viewed as “shared

talismans, points of reference in a fragmented society.”27

INCREASED CORPORATE USE OF BROADCAST

APPEARANCES

For over two decades, the corporate use of broadcast

appearances has grown. One study of 1,300 Fortune corporations

found that 62 % of 395

GAINING SEMICONTROL OVER THE MEDIA I 141

Box 5.1 Examples of Excesses of Some Talk Shows

1. Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), former Speaker of the House, lost

his seat partly because he took round-the-clock hits from three

radio stations. In one, Richard Clear of KGA-AM asked Mr. Foley,

married to the same woman for 24 years, if he was a homosexual

(something Clear picked up from one of the anti-Clinton

broadsides faxed to hundreds of talk shows every week). Mike

Fitzsimmon, another conservative host, was bothered by this and

said, “The mean-spiritedness, the desire to create an us-versus-

them, that bothers me.”28

2. Bob Mohan of KFYI, in criticizing the wife of Jim Brady

(President Ronald Reagan’s former press secretary who was shot

in an assassination attempt on the president), said, “You know, she

ought to be put down. A humane shot at a veterinarian’s would be

an easy way to do it. Because of all her barking and complaining,

she really needs to be put down.”29

3. Don Baker of KVOR in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said of

Attorney General Janet Reno, “We ought to slap Janet Reno across

the face” and “send her back to Florida where she can live with her

relatives— the gators.”30

respondents said one or more senior executives in their company

had participated in a broadcast news interview during the

preceding 18 months.31 Now the practice is so widespread that

media training has become an accepted part of management

training, reports Retail Week.32

Corporations typically choose spokespersons with high

rank in the company—chairman, CEO, president, chief financial

officer—or someone with expertise in a particular area. Corporate

spokespersons say their executives are treated “‘fairly’ in almost

all interviews,” and two in five respondents likewise reported

receiving fair treatment in every interview, which suggests that

spokespersons feel they are in reasonable control of their

performance. It is not that news organizations have mellowed, said

John A. Higgins, public relations director of Brouillard. “Instead,

we think more and more top corporate executives have learned

what their rights are in a news interview situation and are using

this information to their advantage.”33

Media Training and Skills

For decades now, corporate executives have been flocking to a

variety of media training programs that teach them to face a hostile

newscaster, to become aware of nonverbal cues, and to respond

correctly. These training programs have been offered by

advertising agencies, public relations firms, universities, and

specialized training organizations. For example, Rowan & Blewitt

claims it is one of the largest media training companies in the

United States, providing more than 500 training sessions a year to

half of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies.34 In typical training

sessions, executives’ performances are often taped so they can

observe themselves and make any improvements.

PRWeek reported in April 2000 that media training had

become a hot market. As Virgil Scudder, CEO of Virgil Scudder &

Associates, a New York City training firm states, “Few top

executives go before the television cameras or face notebook-

wielding reporters without spending time with a media trainer.”35

Because so many business executives deeply distrust the media, an

understanding of how journalists work lessens their tendency to

dodge reporters. Scudder believes that at aminimum, a training

program should accomplish these objectives:

• Increase the skill and confidence of the executive(s) being

trained.

• Test and refine your organization’s message points.

• Identify the most difficult questions your company is likely to

encounter and formulate answers for them.

• Give the executive a better understanding of how the media

work.36

Burson-Marsteller reported in 2000 that it quadrupled its

media training revenues in the previous 2 years, and The

Heminway Media Group doubled its revenues. Burson-Marsteller

charged $7,500 for a half-day session for up to three people or

$9,500 for a full-day session for up to five people. The sessions

cover a variety of situations—preparing for crisis situations aswell

as client presentations. Sessions also vary in topics included.

Burson-Marsteller offers sessions in media training, presentation

skills training, communication and leadership skills, specialized

communication settings, and communicating difficult issues.37

The skills learned also vary. For example, the public

relations firmHill & Knowlton uses realistic methods such as

putting trainees through “ambush interviews.” When least

expected, glaring lights and a television camera confront a trainee

while the reporter tries to use shock tactics such as interrupting an

answer to get a story. “A few words and some body language must

convey everything,” says George Glazer, senior vice president at

Hill & Knowlton.38

• Schmertz recommends that, when first contacted by a show, you

do some research before deciding to participate.

• Ask the producer such questions as, “Exactly what is the segment

about? What is its thesis? Whom do you want to interview from

our organization, and why?”

• Call a meeting of the top people in the organization to decide

whether the person they want to interview is effective on TV,

whether the segment could be done without your participation

and what the consequences would be, and, finally, what your

response will be. In the process, review the work of the producer

and journalists who are working on the particular segment.

• Explore various requests and options with the producer. Ask for

copies of documents and sources of any negative statements they

plan to question you about. Say you want the interview unedited.

Even though the request will be denied, it shows you’re wise to

their tricks, says Schmertz. Offer the possibility of an offcamera

background briefing by your technical people if the subject is

complex.

How to Handle the Interview

Your goal is not to compete with the stars—the program’s network

will never allow its stars to look bad—but to make the audience

think well of you and your views. In preparation, try to avoid

plowing through mountains of material.

Do the following:

• Take a clean sheet of paper and write down the essential points.

Keep rewriting until they are crisp, clear, and colorful.

• Decide to make three points on the show regardless of what

questions are asked.

• Rehearse your answers in at least two mock interviews with both

inside and outside experts.

• Avoid the advice to “be yourself” on TV; try to be a bit of an

actor.

• Use a makeup person, and on the day of the interview, go for a

swim or long walk, take a nap, or get a massage or facial.

• Play your comments in the direction of a conversation because

the listening audience sees itself as eavesdropping.

• Repeat your main points because only a small portion of the

interview will actually be aired.42

Media coach Lori Robertson, who started her own

consulting business in media training after 13 years as a radio and

TV reporter, explains what reporters do and offers advice on how

to respond to reporter questions:

• Speak in sound bites—10- to 12-second statements

• Be honest; don’t lie.

• Never accept a false premise. The interview has the right to

correct the record first.

• Stay on point with whatever message you try to convey.

• Avoid the “Paul Harvey trap.” Matt Lundy, a former media

coach, says, “Harvey often has long pauses, and in an interview

people tend to rush into an answer rather than wallow in the

silence. By doing so,” Lundy says, “you’re probably going to go

down a road you don’t want to go.”

Another consideration: Reporters don’t always like to deal with

people who are coached—“they’re not giving their real responses”;

they’re acting.43

Impressions Count

Marshall McLuhan wrote in his well-known book, Understanding

Media, that television is a cool medium, meaning the viewing

audience highly participates in forming a complete image of what

is broadcast.44 Intuitively, Ronald Reagan used television for both

its impression-creating quality and intimacy. He demonstrated his

skill in the famous debate with Jimmy Carter in which he

successfully presented himself as a likeable and capable person

who would not embroil the nation in war. When Carter turned on

Reagan, the latter undercut Carter’s image of personal decency—

which was one of Carter’s few remaining campaign assets—by

turning to his opponent and saying, “There you go again,” thereby

reinforcing his own air of gentle reason. Reagan knew that

impressions count.

Handling Trick Questions

Peter Hannaford in Talking Back to the Media gives many

examples of how to identify and handle trick questions. How

should Coors handle this question containing a loaded preface:

“Your business is slipping, there’s an effective national boycott

against you, people say you’re antiblack, antiwoman. How can you

expect to survive?” The correct response, said Shirley Richard,

former head of corporate communications for Coors, is, “I don’t

agree with your statements, but we will survive because we brew a

unique quality beer.”45

Here are some rules to follow in television interviews:

• Never repeat your accuser’s allegations. Instead, be positive.

Nixon’s statement “I am not a crook” should have been “I’m

honest.”46

• Have a SOCO—a single overriding communications objective.

(Hannaford quotes Anne Ready, a Los Angeles-based media

consultant, who says the biggest mistake people make is “waiting

for the right questions and not remembering their objective.” She

suggests that once a question is asked, acknowledge it and then

“bridge” to the answer that furthers your objective.)47

• Focus on what you want to tell. Don’t be afraid to cover

something. Don’t feel compelled to respond to every question if

it’s not in your interest.48

• Remember the advice of Paul Bender, Boeing’s public relations

director: You can control any interview.

Learning How to “Speak TV”

Because television is amass medium, many people who appear

forget that they’re having a conversation, not making a speech or a

statement, says Clarence Jones in How to Speak TV.49 You have

to think of the TV audience as one or two people sitting in their

living room about 6 or 7 feet away. Talk to the camera, but if

you’re being interviewed, people expect you to look at the reporter

who asked the question and not at them. More than 10,000 people

are interviewed each day for television news, says Jones. If you are

one of them, he offers these formulas for improving your

performance:

1. Condense, condense, condense. Dealing with electronic

journalism requires a completely different mind-set than dealing

with print media. Time is the master. Most stories run 30 seconds

or less and a major story only 90 seconds. Story forms are dictated

by findings that the attention span of most adults is 20 to 30

seconds. One exercise, therefore, is to try to say in one sentence

everything you feel or know about a difficult subject. Then pad it

out to make 20 or 30 seconds. One-liners are guaranteed to air!

2. Apply the FACE formula. F is for feels. When you’re on

camera, reciting facts or figures is out. Tell it with graphs and

charts instead. Or use analogies such as “The money we spend

treating this disease would buy everybody in the state a new

Cadillac this year.” What television is interested in is having you

say how something feels. But beware: Don’t lose your temper on

camera, particularly with a young reporter or employee. People

expect leaders to be patient.

A is for analysis. You’re the expert, so give people your

opinion on a subject., but do it in short, simple sentences. Avoid

parenthetical thoughts and phrases (e.g., “As I said earlier”) that

make a sentence too long for television.

C is for revolving your story around one of six broad

categories— the compelling Cs: catastrophe, crisis, conflict, crime,

corruption, and color (the television termfor human interest). For

example, a school board member might say at a budget hearing,

“Looks to me like the school superintendent has sold out

[corruption] to the real-tors who are fighting this tax increase

[conflict]. If this tax is not approved, we may have to shut down

some of our schools [crisis].”

E is for energy. You must project that you truly believe

what you’re saying.50

Keeping a message simple and attention getting is key.

Hannaford tells us to avoid the jargon of your own business or

profession. For example, don’t, as an educator once did, use the

term“primarily modular learning environment” when what is really

meant is classroom.51 In the preparation of statements for

broadcast, Michael M. Klepper teaches how to rephrase statements

into an abbreviated, attention-grabbing opening. Instead of saying,

“George Ellis, chairman of the XYZ Plastics Corporation, has just

returned from Europe where, he says, plastics are easily burned in

clean, modern incinerators,” he suggests saying, “Plastics! How

can we dispose of them? Some say we can’t. George Ellis says we

can.”52

Looking Your Best on TV

Hannaford and others give the following advice about looking your

best on television:

• Wear blues, grays, and pastels. Avoid wearing anything black or

white; bright reds may also be a problem. Other solids or clothing

with small patterns are safest; herringbone patterns, plaids,

checks, or stripes create a lot of visual activity in the scene.

• Wear socks that are long enough to reach under your pants.

• Women should wear simple, small pieces of jewelry and should

avoid wearing sparkling, glittery jewelry or noisy bracelets. Also

avoid dangling earrings that distract the audience. Men should

avoid giant, glistening gold tie clasps.

• Men should use a little powder or natural base makeup to cover

the blue outline of their beards.Women should use normal makeup

but avoid dark reds or maroons because they are accented by the

camera.

• When sitting in a chair in television appearances, sit in the front

part of the chair and lean forward because this shows involvement

and interest.

• Don’t look too slick; audiences respond to someone they can

relate to.

• Use hands to gesture, up to a point. Avoid such body language

and habits as wriggling in your seat or putting hands in your

pocket.

• Maintain eye contact with the interviewer; do not look at the

camera. Looking at another guest who is speaking is permissible,

but afterward look at the interviewer.

• Smile whenever possible, except when it would be considered

insensitive.

CONCLUSIONS

By observing the techniques of successful broadcast appearances,

corporate executives can greatly enhance the amount of control

they have in conveying their messages to radio and television

audiences. Semicontrol is an apt term for this process. There is

never complete control, but a skilled communicator can operate

somewhere in the range of 50% to 80% percent control.