Media liaison - is it happening – or are we building a bad reputation?

[charlesr 0]

Hi – long & serious article here – written in an effort to improve our sport

In the past couple of weeks there have been two fatalities & I must admit although I have not examined every bit of evidence reported through the media, the front page of The Sun this week was not what I would want reported if I ran a DZ…

First can I offer condolences to the families concerned; parachuting deaths might be quick, but they hurt - especially those left behind

The information I base my comments on are nothing to do with the BPA enquiries, but just what I have read & heard through the grapevine. This is how we are perceived by the masses & does affect both the ability to get sponsorship for teams, funding from the Sports Council & the number of new entrants to the sport – all of which are vital for bringing money in

Historically there has been a lack of liaison, & the last time I read the SOP for dealing with the media after an incident ‘it was to say nothing’. This attitude has served us pretty well over the years, but has also re-enforced the attitude of no matter what we say to the media they will report what they want to in the manner that they want to. They are out to sell newspapers as a first priority, not to report the news. Generally what they report forms public opinion & this is one of the gauges the Sports Council will access to decide how much they should fund us. I suspect it also has something, in the long term, to do with hikes in Insurance premiums

To have the headline of ‘Love rift skydiver in suicide at 9,000ft’ does the sport harm. I see that Kieran Brady was quoted – which is something I fully support (talking to the media that is, coz if you don’t they will just make up the quotes, or credit it to ‘a source’), even if some of his comments did get mis-quoted. We all appreciate that deaths will happen in the sport – but to have that quote leading in The Sun or the ‘Suicide skydiver unstraps his parachute at 13,000ft’ in The Daily Mail – will just attract some dis-affected

Personally speaking I do not want to turn up at the DZ to see fatalities. I would think that other skydivers are the same; surely it is not commercially viable for the DZOs either. I also get real tired of having to explain the facts of the sport to others when the media starts off on us

Someone has to get a hold of the media: namely a Media Liaison Officer at the BPA. I know they got Weed on Council to volunteer for this named role, but I am under the impression that this is more a pro-active role for the good stories we generate & not to be involved in these type matters (I stand to be corrected). If we don’t have someone doing this job, then more potential suicides will turn up. The media will not go away & we have had three suicide stories in the last month already

What do others think?

charles ross – a Council member last century

As a separate aside: I read the minutes that came out with the last Mag. From the N/G I was under the impression that the membership price rise - due to an increase in the insurance premiums - was a last minute thing that the Council could do nothing to avoid (there might well have been a debate about this that I missed). The minutes show that they were fully aware of it at the EGM – hence must have known in November, rather than the mid-January line that was fed to the AGM

Certainly as a member of the general public I have been aware of general premium increases & hence was really surprised when the Council appeared to play dumb on the subject. The point put by the motion proposers was that we were lucky to get any insurance at all. I felt that the main reason why the motion succeeded was due to strong arm tactics at the AGM, coupled with the fact that the information was not announced prior to the event - hence there was no opportunity for anyone to research into the subject (something that does not happen at Council meetings)

It is a shame that no Council member took the opportunity to correct the discusssions that took place on the N/G

My colleagues in other Air Sports have been subject to the same market pressures, but have not had such a ‘crisis’

Have certain members of the BPA Council been leading the membership astray?

[quade 4]

Not really sure how it works in the UK, but a single media rep for the entire country simply wouldn't be a good idea for the U.S. -- it's just too large. I suspect it wouldn't work for the UK either.

In the U.S. each drop zone should have someone in charge of dealing with the media that is NOT also going to be involved directly in dealing with the police and rescue personnel if the need arrises. It needs to be a person that can as objectively as possible stand back and gather facts, not be involved with saving lives. Obviously if push comes to shove, saving lives wins every time, but this person shouldn't as a matter of course be one of the first responders. This person should be knowledgable about all aspects of skydiving operations and able to remain calm under pressure. It's probably not a good idea to choose this person simply because he's the DZO. The DZO may have the right temperment for dealing with skydivers, but maybe not for dealing with the press. Maybe the chief instructor or someone else would be a better choice. It's an important decision, so, if you can make it in advance, it simplifies things for a time that's not going to be simple.

Nobody else officially associated with the drop zone should answer questions and everyone, including jumpers (over which you have no real control), should be encouraged to keep their comments to themselves and direct the press to this ONE person.

We have two excellent articles here for you:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=48

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=49

You might consider circulating them around.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[charlesr 0]

The US is certainly a much bigger place than the UK - we are the size of Florida... A noticeable difference is that all the papers tend to be nationwide, rather than local ones

The point that I am trying to push towards is that the UK does not work with the media & I consider it is now damaging the sport in our country

[quade 4]

Dealing with the press can be tricky, so I understand if folks would rather not do it, but in trying to avoid dealing with the press, you're still dealing with the press. The phase "No Comment", while an answer, is almost always the wrong answer. If a person says "No Comment" to a reporter in the U.S. the immediate suspicion is going to be that there is something to hide. Much better to give a prepared statement of known facts, say that there is an on-going investigation and that hopefully all details will be known at a future time.

That's truthfull and gives them something to report while not speculating about things that might not be known.

Maybe you should actually be talking to some folks at the BPA for guidance in setting up some sort of media handling program for drop zones.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver