EFTA01130953.pdf

SPIN: THE SEQUEL --TURNING THE POWER OF THE PRESS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE As any reader of People, viewer of "60 Minutes," or purveyor of TMZ can tell you, we live in a world in which, virtually overnight, almost any individual can become a public figure; any organization, a target of public inquiry. Sooner or later, in other words, the media —both traditional and digital -- are going to point their probing lenses and inquisitive microphones in your direction. And what will you do when that time comes? If experience is any guide, probably the wrong thing. More often than you might think, otherwise smart, sophisticated people react to the sudden glare of the media spotlight by shooting themselves squarely in the foot. Rather than making a virtue of necessity and regarding the media's interest as an opportunity, they see it as a threat. The result is generally a media train wreck. Sadly, many of the worst wrecks could have been averted, if only the participants had known how to manage the process. But too many of them refused to recognize that they were involved in a process. They didn't see that the maelstrom swirling around them was, in fact, a particular, predictable kind of situation, one that passes through a series of readily recognized stages, is shaped by an array of clearly identifiable forces, and follows a number of easily understood rules. In "Spin The Sequel: Turning the Power of the Media to Your Advantage," Michael Sitrick, whom the Los Angeles Times called "the Wizard of Spin", with award winning journalist Jason Booth, lays out those rules. Using never-before-discussed cases from Sitrick and Company's own files—among them: the historic campaign by Roy Disney to unseat Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner, the indictment of HP's Chairman of the Board for allegedly spying on her Board (all charges were ultimately dropped) , the attempt by then Page Six reporter Jared Stern to get Ron Burkle to pay him $200,000 to keep Burkle off Page Six, the situation with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a battle against short sellers which involved some of the largest hedge funds in the country -- the book takes readers inside the media machine, demonstrating how a smart and self-aware player can survive even the most overwhelming onslaught. As the book demonstrates, effective spin has nothing to do with obfuscation and misdirection. (Or as Harry Truman once put it, "If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em.") Rather, it's built on the recognition that simply having the facts on your side is not enough. What counts is how you present them—and to whom. Smart spin also recognizes that the media is neither an inscrutable force of nature nor a craven pack of hyenas, but rather a very human institution driven by an entirely comprehensible set of motivations and aversions. By revealing the hidden logic behind what may look like a chaotic media frenzy, "Spin" shows readers how to see such situations for what they really are—and how they can use this understanding to transform the media from a hostile adversary into a powerful ally. EFTA01130953