If you're running for public office, you had better get used to talking to the news media. Now the good news about running for office is it's much easier to get news coverage than it is if you are a small business or running a small nonprofit you are, by definition, newsworthy when you announce you're running, if you drop out if you get caught in a scandal if your opponent's attacking you, but if you're creative, you can generate a lot of news coverage based on what you're saying what you're doing, and how reporters are covering you. So it's absolutely critical that you understand the media and that you understand how to communicate effectively to the media. Now I've put together a very, very extensive detailed section of the course here for you on how to deal with the media because it quite often does make the biggest difference between winning and losing as a candidate.

The best communicator as a candidate typically wins. Now there are exceptions. If you're running for statewide office, then quite often it's whoever has the most money for pay TV commercials, in which case you're communicating through TV ads. But in many, many races around the country around the world, it's who can communicate most effectively when talking to TV reporters, radio reporters, internet newspaper, bloggers, who can really get their message across and therefore, connect with actual voters. Remember, you're not talking to reporter because you're doing the reporter a favor, or because you like the reporter, you're doing it because this is simply a more effective way of reaching voters than trying to raise a billion dollars and spend a lot of money on paid advertising. Now, you may have your own preconceived notions about reporters.

They're only out to get you they have a right wing bias left wing bias corporate buy. Yeah, there's all those biases. The number one bias most reporters have is a bias in favor of anything interesting. So that their story can get on the six o'clock news or get on that homepage, the front page. So as long as you can consistently be interesting in your messages, you can generate a lot of news coverage. Now the best way to get news coverage as a candidate is to attack attack the status quo if you're running against an incumbent, attack the incumbent.

If you are running against environmental pollution in a local river, don't just hold it in a TV studio. Don't just hold it in a hotel, your press conference instead, go to the river and hold up dead fish and say this is the problem. Believe me. Reporters will cover it. You will get on the local news because it's good visual the river behind you. Hold on A dead fish, it will generate coverage.

Many times the most successful candidates are not necessarily the brightest, not even the hardest working, but they are candidates who spent a lot of time thinking about messages for the media. What will interest the media? How can they appeal to the media? And how can they communicate through the media to the voters? because fundamentally, your campaign is one big communications challenge. If you can actually communicate, why you're running, why you think what you're doing is going to be good for your jurisdiction and better than what the opponents are saying, you will win.

But most candidates don't do that. And I would say, no losing candidates accomplish that at some point. They didn't communicate what they were going to do, who they were, why they weren't any way better than the other candidates out there. So campaigns are fundamentally communications challenges. And that's why you've got to learn how to be a master of the media. And I've put here for you a very, very extensive course on how to deal with the media.

Believe me, there's no better use of your time right now than learning how to master the media because it's absolutely critical skill. If you're going to be a successful candidate more important. It's critical if you're going to govern because once you get in the campaign's only begun, you now have to campaign for all of your proposals, all of your policies, all of your proposed laws, and you're going to have to do that through the media.