Good Media or Bad Media??

Can the Media be a good tool or a bad tool?

I have seen over the years our local papers print story's about fires or accidents that are not true at all.

I think that the media is a very bad tool, but in a broader spectrum I think that it is a good thing.


What so the rest of you think?

Trying to wrap your hands around a term like "the media" represents a challenge unto itself. One cannot control the fourth estate, nor should one ignore them. By and large, Fire Departments who complain the loudest about "the media" are found to have a poorly crafted process for dealing with them.

If you need to do something other than blow off steam and are seeking particular guidance, I do imagine that the forum linked below would be a good place to start:

http://cms.firehouse.com/forums2/for...s=&forumid=423

Best Wishes,

Brian

Gunner:

I think you need to watch for the next time we run Public Relations For the Fire & Emergency Services at the Montgomery County Fire Academy. We spend most of Sunday talking about how you can make friends with the media and therefore use it to your advantage.

Have you or your officers ever invited your local paper to the fire house? You can show them everything you have and use and hopefully they will stop calling an air pack "oxygen bottles". Also by explaining what and why you do certain things they get a better understanding of our services and hopefully will stop printing false information.