Jamal Kheiry’s Weblog

In general, building a positive image through the news media takes a lot of work and can be accomplished only over an extended period of time. Building a good reputation, by definition, takes even longer. You’re going to have to put in lots of time, thought and effort. You’re going to have to share your expertise with people for free to show them what you can do, and share with them what you’re about. You have to contribute positively to your community and to the communities of your target audiences. And you have to do it consistently over time; shortcuts don’t work.

Exceptions are few, but they’re notable. For example, you can build a positive image immediately by jumping into a river to save somebody from drowning and get your story in the news. But even this flash of good will can disappear quickly; the only way to keep it going would be to leverage the single incident by continuing to do good things (although presumably less dramatic than life-saving) and keeping your profile high.

Similarly, folks who have become famous can leverage their fame to move the needle on their image and reputation, as long as they don’t foul it up by the typical fame-induced foibles (anti-Semitic rants while drunk, chronic substance abuse arrests, domestic violence, messy custody disputes, etc.). A New York Times story from yesterday details how Angelina Jolie has managed her press exposure to build her image into something closer to what she wants it to be. The reporter describes her in the story as skillful, savvy, and expert at manipulating press coverage to ensure positive publicity. But as any PR person will tell you, there’s almost no limit to what somebody can do when armed with the kind of unparalleled media demand commanded by Jolie. She has journalists and photographers watching her every move 24 hours a day because their readers are ravenous for photos and information about her. She has helicopters flying over her house for a shot of her, for goodness’ sake.

So is it any wonder that she was able to demand millions of dollars from People magazine for pictures of her newborn twins? Is it any wonder that she can dictate terms to the publication about the kind of story it’ll write about her? Of course not.

Naturally, People magazine denied that they skewed their editorial approach in order to get the exclusive shots; I’m sure the agreement was all verbal, leaving no incriminating paper trail. But I’m also sure that if the magazine had gone back on the deal, it would have been the last time they ever got an exclusive from Jolie (or her partner Brad Pitt), and in fact, the couple probably would have made a point of granting such access to People’s direct competitors in order to hit its bottom line: advertising revenue.

So although she can write her own ticket when it comes to media coverage, Jolie is smart about how she uses this influence. First, she knows that the media is going to follow her every move, so she might as well make her every move count; so she gets them to focus on social issues about which she cares deeply, or she forces them to stick to issues of substance (poverty and disease in Africa or South Asia) as opposed to fluff (intimate details of her and Brad’s lives).

Second, she is ruthless about how she gets the coverage she wants, and there’s no reason she shouldn’t be. Some might opine that she is imposing on journalistic integrity, independence and objectivity, but she is not. The only folks who can really do that are dictators in countries that allow government control of the media. In the U.S., People magazine – and any other – is perfectly free to turn down coverage if they think it steps on their credibility or ethics. They alone can decide if their readers’ needs and desires would be best served by one kind of coverage or another, and there are plenty of other publications covering Jolie, so the adversarial stance certainly won’t go unrepresented in the great marketplace of celebrity news.

The lesson here is that establishing your image and reputation through media coverage is a long and arduous process, unless you’re already famous. And, arguably, Jolie put in an awful lot of time and work to get as famous as she is, and now is reaping the dividends of that work. If you’re willing to put in consistently good performances over an extended period of time, you too can write your own ticket when it comes to media coverage. Don’t expect it, but certainly don’t stop working toward it.