Unit 10:  Media Relations, Advertising & Professional Communications Skills
 

Unit 1:  Who are lobbyists & what motivates them?
Unit 2:  Turkey's image abroad.
Unit 3:  History of Turkish communities worldwide & reasons for a weak Turkish lobby.
Unit 4:  National & ethnic interests: Anti-Turkey lobbies, misrepresentation of facts & defamation.
Unit 5:  The Turkish lobby dilemma in the United States as a case study.
Unit 6:  Problems encountered by Turkish lobbies in the EU, Germany, France & worldwide.
Unit 7:  Current Turkish lobby issues & the role of public diplomacy.
Unit 8   What can be learned from powerful lobbies such as the Jewish/Pro-Israel lobby?
Unit 9   New approaches to educating & informing Turkish lobbying groups.
Unit 10  Media relations, advertising & professional communications skills.
Unit 11  Initiatives for individuals & public speaking.
Unit 12  Initiatives for communities, campaigns, & NGO'S.
Unit 13: Fund-raising, public relations, & what can be done domestically.
Unit 14: Turkish lobbies undergo a period of transition: The need to strengthen old & new leadership.
Unit 15: Long-term strategies & lobbying in the post-September 11 era.

I. OUTLINE FOR UNIT 10: Media relations, advertising & professional communications skills.

    1. Media lobbying. What can be done?

        a. Letters to the editor. Articles. Legal action. Libel suits. Anti-Defamation campaigns. Protests.
        b. Making the media accountable. Standards and a code of ethnics. Watchdog groups.
        c. Mass communications versus local.

    2. Advertising and target audiences.
        a. When can advertising be denied?

    3. Professional communications skills and advocacy.
        a. Grassroots techniques.
        b. Good communication: the power of language and psychology.

II. EXERCISE, ACTIVITIES & PROJECTS

●The issues Turkey is concerned with are complex, yet they need to be presented in a simple manner. Debate why certain approaches should be avoided, and which approaches should be encouraged when seeking to promote a better understanding of Turkey.

●Communication includes inspiring people and enabling them to share a common cause. List some some ways of doing this, and how an effective communicator can be trained so that they can be good lobby leaders.

(speakers on Media relations, advertising & professional communications skills to be named).

III. QUESTIONS

●What is the role of the media in shaping a nation's policy and attitudes toward other peoples and cultures? How is it determined what the public should read?
●What action can be taken against uninformed and biased coverage (which may, or may not be deliberate, or with malicious intent)?
●How can the media ensure balanced coverage? How are experts and specialists defined and selected?
●What are the problems in covering conflicts, such as in Chechnya, the Arab-Israeli conflict, fight against the PKK, or war in Iraq?
●What problems exist in the use of language, i.e. when to use the word terrorist, militant, guerrilla, freedom fighter, rebel, etc.?
●What problems can arise from the media's need to protect sources and their anonymity (unless criminality is involved) in order to get information that serves the public interest?

IV. BACKGROUND MATERIAL

Enormous power is attributed to the media and to mass communications. The media is an important tool used by lobbies to advance their cause, and to get public opinion to back their version of reality. Many well-connected anti-Turkey lobbies have been able to use the media and create public suspicion regarding information provided by Turkish lobbies. Because of a lack of investigative journalism in these areas, positions taken by Turkish lobbies and Turkey are often regarded with skepticism and regularly questioned, while attention is diverted from the motives and potentially dangerous policies of anti-Turkey lobbies.

All countries participate in image-selling contests. It should be asked: What is Turkey doing right, or wrong, in this image-selling contest? What constitutes public opinion and how is it formed? Remember, it is often not what you say, but how you say it that is just as important. How you look and you're image count. Understanding image-making involves understanding the psychology of persuasion. It is interesting to note that presidential candidates, and their image consultants, are preoccupied with how the candidate will appear and look during a debate, as well as what the candidate will say. The importance of images presented on television, and in advertising, and the impact they on the public, especially during elections, has been discussed by political media analysts who point out that candidates battle over images, rather than stress ideas and political platforms. This justifies the need for advertising strategies and public relations consultants for enhancing communication arts and persuasion. Advertising targets are usually more limited, whereas public relations activities have a wide-range of targets and need to analyze problems and opportunities (discussed in Unit 13).

Mass media are the means by which mass communication takes place in modern societies, where large numbers of people receive information in a short period of time. There are several major categories of mass media, such as the print media (newspapers, magazines, books); recordings (CD's, DVD's, audio tapes, video cassettes); films and motion pictures; and radio and television broadcasts. The distinctions between these areas is disappearing as new technologies are emerging. Professional communicators decide what their audiences will see, hear, or read. Information is rapidly distributed and mass-produced, using technologies that are expense and complex (such as communications satellite). The communication of information is one-way, with audience members limited in their ability to use the media to send their own information. Because the mass media has the power to influence audience members, it is often a controversial topic and subject of intensive study and debate. There are therefore many issues to analyze regarding instantaneous global communications and the future impact of new technologies. Another subject of debate is the concentrated ownership of the mass media, as more and more media are owned by fewer individuals, or corporate entities and much of the world's media are controlled by a small number of international companies. Because of the excess amount of information available to the average person, audiences are inundated by coverage, and some media specialists believe this has made the public feel powerless and anxious. These developments might also be a contributing factor to the increase in the demand for entertaining media, and the failure of the general public to get insight into issues of importance for society. Because television is becoming the only source of news for many people, the profound effects of nonobjective television programs are also being studied. Public interest groups have been concerned with the role of television propaganda and its ability to shape public perceptions (an example is the "clean" war presented by live coverage in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War as a result of censorship and restricted press access). Another area of global debate, is whether U.S. popular culture, through movies and music, is having too much influence on the youth of other countries.

An advertisement is a message that attempts to persuade listeners or readers to buy a specific product, support a particular organization, or agree with a particular idea. It often uses the broadcast media of mass communication. An advertisement can be in the form of a printed message in a newspaper, or magazine, or broadcast on radio or television. It can also be sent to individuals or groups through e-mail, regular mail, or disseminated by other methods. Computerized lists of names that are chosen for particular characteristics (such as age, geographic location, or income) are the basis of direct mail advertising campaigns which is a fast growing segment of the industry. An advertisement is paid for by the advertiser, and can be either prepared by the advertiser, or by a professional advertising agency. The most dominant form of advertising in the U.S. is the national advertising of a product or firm. Other types of advertising include, local business, retail, trade, industrial, medical, etc.

The advertising industry consists of national and local advertisers, the media, and the advertising agencies. Advertising agencies provide advertisers with a wide range of communications services such as copywriting, art, production, market research, media planning and buying, public relations, and sales promotion. The clients who spend the most money spend it on national network stations and on spot ads (which appear on selected network stations to target local markets). Prime time refers to the period of the day when most people are tuned in, usually between 8-10 PM. Some areas that receive the most advertising interest are: automobile, food, restaurants, entertainment, technology, financial, and medical. Some mega-firms offer their clients services in marketing, public relations, and advertising. Clients can be multinational companies who may need global publicity in numerous languages, as well as simultaneous worldwide PR and advertising. In such cases, advertising agencies must be familiar with the local customs and business practices of the country in order to successfully conduct international activities. The U.S. is the nation that spends the most on advertising (about $200 billion yearly). Factors that determine a successful advertising campaign are the budget, the audience, and the objectives. Good research studies that evaluate response and a media plan are essential. Marketing research can also play an important role, since customers need to be satisfied (for example, for a travel advertising campaign marketers identify the market for their product, such as Turkish Airlines). Marketers therefore seek to satisfy the needs and wants of customers within that market. The firms who understand the customer's needs tend to be more successful. Due to the consumer movement in the U.S., calls for truthful advertising, safer and better products, have helped keep marketers and advertisers in line. Marketing techniques are also used by politicians who seek to market themselves.

Americans are increasingly aware of how television shapes their values. They are also concerned with receiving the facts in order to serve the best interests of their democracy and ensure the general welfare of the American people. However, if the media, which is the primary source of background information for Americans, does not present background information on domestic and international issues, the public may not be sufficiently informed about decisions that are made. Their opinions will be shaped by the media's version of reality.

As with the media anywhere in the world when the public reads about or hears news of a story, they often assume that what is being said or reported is objective and the truth. Most elements of the media may not deliberately distort or manipulate the news, but distortion is common. The ethics of persuasion and the role of opinion leaders should be better defined. Turkish lobbies need to bring to the public's attention the fact that information can be biased. Journalists can rarely claim to be fully objective and impartial, and when pressed for time fact-checking may not be adequate. Images, maps and photography can be equally misleading, and planned to have a psychological impact. Even the layout of a page can create associations in the mind of the reader. Distortions also result from edited speeches, statements, or pictures. The problem of accuracy is an issue for all those involved in the media. Watchdog groups need to be increasingly active in this age of excessive information and to monitor the falsification of facts. This era of profit driven media, which seeks to satisfy commercial interests and the demands for sensational tabloid news, can easily transform audiences into victims of repeated news distortions. The public must hold the media accountable to media standards and ethnics, and not forget that it is the public that has the power to shake their credibility.

Although advertising and PR are two different disciplines, many ad agencies promote themselves as "marketing communications" firms who provide both public relations and advertising services (note: while advertising agencies pay the media to present their message,  PR firms do not pay for coverage in the media and PR firms rely on a greater number of communication tools).