They Wonder Why Equestrian Sport Doesn’t Get Media Coverage!

I often hear members of the equestrian community complain about the amount and quality of media coverage that show jumping receives. When there is negative coverage of any kind, they typically blame the messenger. Having witnessed this, time and time again, from two different vantage points, I am more likely to be amazed when it does get any coverage.

The people who run show jumping tournaments, who govern the sport, and who speak for the sport, seldom give the media any incentive to bother. I have been both a journalist covering the sport and a publicist representing the most high-profile figures in the sport. I recently tried to obtain results from a tournament that is sanctioned to host a World Cup Qualifier. One would expect that in order to be sanctioned in that way, a federation would require the tournament to have a good media relations policy. Federations in most sports would.

The management of the tournament in question did not answer their telephone or respond to e-mails for a three-week period. During two of those three weeks, the tournament was underway. Nearly a week after the tournament ended, I received a response on Facebook, rather than by phone or e-mail. This response complained about my requests for results and complained that I had told my readers that I was unable to obtain them.

The management of this tournament should consider it to be a lesson learned. If you treat the media like a nuisance, they will react in one of two ways. They will go away completely – leaving you to complain about no coverage. Or, they may become more of nuisance because you put their credibility on the line and force them to explain the absence of some information to their readers. You may consider this bad coverage. But, as I have written before, most negative coverage is preventable.

This incident is only one of many similar ones that I have encountered. They continually remind me that this sport has a lot of growing up to do to become “big league” sport. Many sports federations require media training for their members. Many sports federations dictate standards of media services to their member events. Even if a federation does not want to promote consistency and professionalism within the sport, it is in the best interests of all events and individual members to refrain from treating the media like a nuisance and then complaining about what ends up in print.

One Equestrian Sport Undertakes Media Training, But May Be Too Late

Media training should always be pro-active not reactive. Athletes and other representatives who are properly trained to respond to the media and to do interviews can prevent problems like unfavourable coverage. We have seen situations in Canadian show jumping where the actions of an athlete or the actions of an untrained and inexperienced media representative have resulted in unflattering publicity. The equestrian community has usually reacted with anger towards the media, not towards the athlete or other representative. Maybe anger towards the athletes or representative would not be appropriate either. None of us should be expected to do well at something in which we have no training.

The weekly British magazine Horse and Hound is reporting that British fox hunting representatives are now undertaking media training. This comes after years of negative publicity and a ban on fox hunting in Britain. The actual role the publicity played in the ban is not clear, as fox hunting is controversial for a variety of reasons. See the report here: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/article.php?aid=285538

However, media training, at this point, is an excellent demonstration of why training should be pro-active rather than reactive. The damage has been done. Recovering from it will be difficult, if not impossible. Reversing the ban would seem unlikely.

Some sport organizations, both professional and amateur, require athletes to take specified media training before competing in the sport’s top-level tournaments. I advocate this not because media training is my business, but because I have seen the results when an athlete fails to understand the media. I have ceased to represent more than one client, based on their refusal to take training or change conduct. I have also seen the difference it makes when an athlete has either taken training or has a natural skill in media relations.

All horse sports, and all athletes and their respective sport organizations, can learn from the British fox hunting experience and from Canadian show jumping’s experience. Media relations training can prevent negative publicity. It can also enhance and increase all publicity. It is not just for athletes. It should involve everyone at any level that might meet the media or plan media services . That includes event staff, volunteers, athletes and administrators. When used, as British fox hunting is doing, as a way to react to negative publicity, it may help in some situations. But, it is always better undertaken before problems arise.

How “Bad Press” Happens

“Bad press” is not unique to equestrian sport. So, normally this post would appear on my general media relations tips page. However, recently there has been a lot of buzz created in the equestrian community over an article that appeared in a major newspaper about a former client of mine.

 

The headline was extremely accurate if it had applied to recent situations that were not mentioned in the article. The article itself had little relevance to the public interest, nor was it a story worthy of this broad-based coverage.

 

However, it did serve as a lesson in one of the many ways negative publicity can occur. I had warned this client that he was heading towards some negative publicity. On repeated occasions, he failed to appear for media engagements to which he had committed. He stopped answering his phone, even for people in his “inner circle” because he knew he was in media demand.

 

Being inaccessible does several things in the eyes of the media. It raises a red flag to the media that the subject has something to hide. It simply makes the media not like you because you make their job difficult and waste their time. Not showing up when you have made a commitment indicates an unacceptable level of disrespect and arrogance. Raising a red flag that there is something to  hide will cause some members of the media to go digging in the subject’s private life. Making the media dislike you and displaying arrogance may make some members of the media want to show the subject in a negative light. Then, they may look for any reason to do so.

 

Even if the story doesn’t have much merit, a sensational headline can achieve exactly that result. That is what happened recently and irked many members of the equestrian community.

 

There can be many causes of bad publicity. Bad publicity is sometimes also bad journalism. It was in this case. But it may have been driven by the actions of the subject. That means that, like a lot of negative publicity, it was preventable. If that is what caused it, the subject is as much to blame as the writer and the editor who allowed it.

Don’t Announce Negative News

It seems obvious, but don’t put out a news release unless you have news. In a previous post I talked about not using the same document for internal communications and for reaching out to the media. In several previous posts I have talked about the importance of understanding what constitutes news. Both of these errors contribute to a common mistake. That mistake is announcing something that gives the media an opportunity to write a negative story.

People within the show jumping community might be awaiting the results of a particular competition, no matter what those results are. When it comes to show jumping, the general public in North America is not. However, if the result is good or it becomes part of a bigger story, then it is news. Then it can be made into a story of public interest. It does not warrant a news release if it is not news.

The same organizations who would be the first to complain about “bad press” often unknowingly create it. For example, a news release that announces an athlete was the best Canadian at an international competition, then goes on to say that “best” performance was actually 27th or 28th place, is inviting negactive coverage. Yet, this happens. This “news” is appropriate for internal communication. Members of the equestrian community wants to know this. But, it feeds the media an opportunity to say the athlete “failed, “faltered”, or “choked”.   

I will talk more about how “bad press” happens in future posts. There are many things that cause negative publicity and many come from within an organization. The results of an international competition are usually in the public domain. Any journalist who is following the sport can access the results. Any athlete should be ready to be under media scrutiny. But don’t invite it by putting out official announcements of something that is not news.