I had a very long and close relationship with somebody who wrote regularly for several national newspapers so I do know about this stuff. I have also had extensive contact with the media as a result of my own business activities.
Suppose you were invited to go 15 rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime. What were your chances of winning do you think? Maybe outfox him because you are smarter? Dream on. The reality is that he would literally kill you within 20 seconds. And I do mean kill you - or at the very least put you into intensive care with brain damage.
Why would that happen? Because that is what he does. And the press and media are no different. If they have you in their sights and you are stupid enough to climb into the ring with them, they will kill you. Because that is what they do.
And bear in mind these are not nice people - everybody wants to work for the media and be on TV so the competition is fierce and ruthless - they will do anything to climb to the top of the heap. Betray their friends, spread malicious rumours, tell lies, sleep with the boss. They will do whatever it takes - these are seriously evil people.
You cannot win and your only hope is to refuse to play - it is like tennis. If you refuse to hit the ball back the game does not take place
So if you are in their firing line, just totally refuse to speak to them. Do NOT talk to ANYBODY - especially your friends and family - under any circumstances. Change your name, wear a false moustache and fly to Outer Mongolia and spend three months in a yurt. Otherwise you will get the following:
"Smith's friend denies he will demolish War Memorial"
"Smith's sister says no plans to demolish War Memorial"
"War Memorial Outrage"
"Veterans Spend night at War Memorial"
It is like a car crash - the worst thing that can happen is that you have a witness. One day a guy who was drunk ran into the back of my car. A man rushed up and said the guy who ran into me was driving like an idiot. But on the day, the witness did not show up in court and his written statement was very misleading.
So as a direct result of having a friendly witness, we lost - he tried to be helpful but just made things worse. And that is what friends and family will do if you have the press after you - they will land you right in it by trying to be helpful.
The Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Manilla and a reporter asked him if he would be going to any strip clubs. The Duke replied by saying "Are there any?" Yes, you've guessed it - the next days press read
DUKE LOOKING FOR STRIP CLUBS!
Duke's first words on landing in Manilla were, "are there any strip clubs here?"
A few months ago I bought some sensitive real estate in the middle of a small town. The local press rang up wanting an interview but we refused to talk to them but sent them an extremely carefully worded statement. So what happened? The facts have been changed (this is still very live) but the following is in essence what they printed.
NEW BOWLING ALLEY FOR TOWN CENTRE
The buyers of the High Street site are intending to build a new cinema together with some flats and have issued the following statement
"We confirm we have bought the High Street site and plan to submit a planning application for a car showroom and some small shops"
No, I couldn't believe it either
If you read Donald Trump's books (I have read all six but one is enough really) you will see that he very quickly realised that if you have a thick enough skin, there is no such thing as bad publicity. And The Donald has very thick skin. Most people would cringe at having their private life spread all over the press but if you can bear that, then the world is your lobster, to quote Arthur Daley
I think that Trump's major policies are spot on (deregulation, reduced taxes and confronting problems rather than hiding them) but the noise is just terrible. But you don't become POTUS by being normal, well balanced and shy.
So, if you want to be famous, the press will play along. You can use each other - they want sensational stories of sex, hubris and humiliation and you want to be famous. Be my guest. They will build you up, bring you down and build you up again. And you can turn fame into money. Trump was paid $75m well before he became POTUS for allowing a developer in Panama to put TRUMP on the front of a building. Not bad but I will let you put CORY on the front of a building for only $5m - form an orderly queue please.
Bob Cory
Modified on 07/09/2019 at 12:10:34 by ℗ Bob Cory