Media matters

The 2023 Global Tobacco and Network Forum concluded earlier today with a 'Meet the Press' panel.

Having had a small gripe about one of the panellists before the event, I thought the least I could do was watch the discussion live online.

With an eight-hour time difference, it began at 15:55 (Seoul), 07:55 (UK), and was described, rightly, as 'lively and frank'.

There was some well justified criticism of the industry's interaction with the media – aspects of which I have touched upon myself. (See 'Rough guide to dealing with the media'.)

I do think though there was a lack of understanding of the constraints under which the tobacco industry operates. This doesn't totally excuse the companies, but there may be lawyers to satisfy which is why responses to media enquiries and requests are often delayed or derailed.

To put this in perspective, many years ago one company set up a rapid response unit, by which they meant within 48 hours.

For individuals a disastrous interview can be career-ending (I've seen it happen) so you can understand why tobacco company execs are not forming an orderly queue to appear on TV or radio when a single word or comment out of place can have significant consequences.

Someone on the GTNF panel, I can't remember who, complained that the tobacco industry (like many industries) is "faceless", and that's something else I've commented on.

Thirty years ago the Tobacco Advisory Council (now the Tobacco Manufacturers Association) had a fantastic spokesman, the wonderfully urbane Clive Turner.

Unfailingly polite and good-humoured, he was more than a match for the po-faced anti-smokers he encountered on television and radio. Describing those interviews years later, he wrote:

I must have done hundreds of always hostile live and recorded radio, television and print media interviews. Following these, I could expect unspeakable and anonymous messages, not excluding death threats. You name them, I got them.

Despite this he never lost his sang-froid and even now, 25 years after he retired, I consider him a bit of a hero. (See 'Clive Turner and me'.)

Clive was the face of the tobacco industry in Britain for a decade, but the companies were arguably more aligned in those days. Today it's harder to have a single spokesman for the entire industry because on some issues the companies have diverged a bit.

Of course the print media has evolved too and journalists are under huge pressure to generate content for print and online editions. In my opinion though there is too much cut 'n paste journalism, with many reports being lifted almost verbatim from press releases, and not enough ringing around to get a response from opposing sides.

A story I've told before concerns a leading press agency. On one occasion, in response to my complaint that Forest had not been given a chance to respond to a particular story, I was told, "There's nothing to stop you sending a response to us", to which my reply was, "How can we can send a response if we don't know there's anything to respond to?!"

In the real world the likes of ASH, Cancer Research and the Department of Health never send Forest copies of their reports or press releases so unless a journalist calls us in advance for a reaction (they're often embargoed), we are totally in the dark until the story is published.

If they don't call we can't respond and the story will appear without a single opposing voice. After that we're playing catch up and it's usually too late to do anything about it, although I have had some interesting conversations with night editors at the BBC and elsewhere.

Another problem the companies face (and this was acknowledged by the 'Meet the Press' panellists) is that relatively few journalists are open-minded about the tobacco industry, which some still consider to be 'evil'.

Tobacco industry funded groups like Forest have a similar problem. When we relaunched our website many years ago we emailed journalists and broadcasters with the new URL and some promotional blurb. These were some of the replies:

Journalist A: ‘Please don't send me any more emails about your ghastly organisation ... People are not 'victims' of 'health fanatics' but victims of a cynical, multi-million dollar industry that cares not a jot about anyone's health, as long as they're making money.'

Journalist B: 'Please don't send me any of your information. I'm an ex-smoker. I don't have a problem about people smoking but I do have a problem about the unsolicited rubbish you put out.'

Journalist C: 'Please do not send me any more of your propaganda.'

I have always believed that knowledge is power and the best journalists are those who remain curious and open to information, even if they don't agree with it. Clearly there are some who are rather more narrow-minded.

Credit then to the journalists who attended GTNF in Seoul, and particularly those who took part in the 'Meet the Press' panel which I enjoyed more than any other because I liked their plain speaking. (Who knew that journalists would be such good communicators?!)

When the video is available I'll post a link here.

PS. I wrote 'Rough guide to dealing with the media' in 2016. Sections include 'The 24/7 rule, 'Persistence and communication', 'Rapid response', 'Make friends not enemies', and 'New story angles'.

I wrote it in response to a request for advice on dealing with the media and and after listening to the 'Meet the Press' panel I think it's still relevant today.