Media Relations Handbook: For Government, Associations, Nonprofits, and Elected Officials - Paperback

by Bradford Fitch (Author)

The Media Relations Handbook is called "the big blue book" on Capitol Hill. Human communication is a constant, continuous, and dynamic phenomenon. You cannot not-communicate nor can you un-communicate. For an individual entity, there is only ONE communication. Not multiple, not varieties, only one. That one communication is the culmination of all that has been communicated by the entity until the "now" in time. You cannot go back and un-communicate something. You can only begin from the "now" to create the intended outcome. That outcome is always a negotiation with the receiver/audience/community to cultivate an agreed understanding. For a communication professional, understanding this fact is essential. No matter where you work, someone has been communicating something before you began. You cannot un-communicate it. You cannot create a new beginning; but you can begin now to create a new outcome. Research continues into the changes in communication wrought by the Internet and public expectations that are experiencing mercurial change. As best practices are now being developed, the Media Relations Handbook 2e can give you guidance and ideas that will spark your innovation

Author Biography

Bradford Fitch is the former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. He has spent 40 years in Washington as a journalist, congressional aide, consultant, college instructor, Internet entrepreneur, and writer/researcher. He is a leading trainer of citizen-advocates in the U.S., with more than 50,000 Americans participating in one of his programs. Fitch got his start in communications as a DJ for his local AM radio station in Upstate NY at the age of 16. He is a former radio and television reporter, and worked on Capitol Hill for 13 years as press secretary, legislative director, and chief of staff. From 2001-2005 he served as Deputy Director of CMF. He left CMF in 2006 to form a new company, Knowlegis, now a part of FiscalNote. He returned to CMF in 2010, where he served 14 as CEO. Fitch also is the author of Citizen's Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials and Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress. His work and interviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBC News, NPR, among others. He taught journalism and public communications at American University in Washington, D.C, where he served an adjunct Associate Professor of Communications.