Mediaboss Marketing

With news media the No. 1 way in which the public learns about whats going on at city hall, the citys elected officials want to see it best used to their advantage.

On the table at Mondays executive committee meeting was a recommendation for city council and administration to take one-day media relations training sessions.

Dealing with media is a lost cause, Coun. Mark Tweidt countered, arguing that the $8,355 price tag for the media relations training sessions would be better spent on their own media.

I dont know why we would ever go after the media to try -- and this is no disrespect -- to try and get them to tell our messages, he said.

I dont think its going to happen. I think news across the world is negative, and thats what sells -- thats the way it is.

During a lengthy debate centred on their interpretation of the merits and pitfalls of news organizations, Mayor Greg Dionne argued for greater control over who is allowed to speak with reporters.

Maybe what we should be doing is have a policy on who speaks on our behalf, he said.

Sometimes the media goes around us because they know what our answers going to be, and sometimes, even seven months after we do something theyre still bringing it up and theyre speaking to third party agencies on why this happened or why that happened.

It doesnt matter what we do, it seems that negative sells -- that theres always got to be a twist or an underlying story instead of just a good news story. So, if thats our goal I dont support it because were never going to reach that goal.

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City council debates the merits of media