but, it does mean, reporters have jobs to do, have editors to report to, and have their own stories to tell. Don’t let the reporter fluster or intimidate you and understand they may ask you questions that you don’t wish to answer. That’s why I advise writ- ing out your talking points and jotting down your messages if you have a moment to do so before you speak to the reporter. That’s something you can always pivot back to and continue to reiterate, even if the reporter is asking you the same question in a different way. Make sure you’re telling the story on your own terms and providing the answer that you want to provide. Depending on what the tone of the reporter is and what the topic of the story is, my advice would be to consult with your cor- porate counsel or human resources department if the story is related to a personnel matter to make sure you’re not disclosing private or privileged information. Freye also cautioned NATA member to be careful about using acronyms or technical jargon when speaking with reporters. “We get wrapped up in our day-to-day operations and don’t always understand that folks outside of our industry don’t always know what we’re talking about,” Freye said. “Aviation is highly technical and there are a lot of acronyms. It’s incumbent on you to check for understanding with the reporter. That’s really impor- tant, because you don’t want the reporter to hang up the phone and then say, ‘Oh, I can’t remember what they were specifically referring to’ and then make an assump- tion about that. Always make sure that you’re spelling out acronyms, explaining technical aspects of aviation and how things work, and checking for understanding with the reporter.” As NATA members look ahead to the next round of scrutiny around federal assistance, and otherwise begin thinking about how to more proactively tell stories about the industry and the work they do for their communities, Freye had two final suggestions for piloting the narrative and getting out in front of the story. • Tell your own story well. NATA members, in a business of any size, should put together a brief media relations packet and place it on their websites, potentially under a tab that says “For the Press,” and includes the following key things: is downloadable in a way that can’t be easily manipulated, contains a history and a profile of the business, contains bios of key personnel, and includes a digital graphics package. That’s some- thing you can proactively provide to reporters that will assist them in understanding your business, which will make an interview considerably easier but also is another opportunity for you to share your narrative on your terms. • Pitch good story ideas. Our industry has a lot of good news stories to share, and we don’t always tell those stories very well or even think to tell them. That’s because we live it day in and day out, and some of the things we’re doing are taken in stride: this is business as usual. While recognizing that our industry can unfortunately be a target for journalists, our members sometimes have to play a certain amount of defense in making sure that the narrative is inclusive of the good things they’re doing and the contributions that they’re making are told on their own terms. One of the pieces of advice I would give, to any of our members, is to host a media day: take an hour or two for a lunch and invite all of your local media outlets out to your business. Invite the newspaper, invite the radio station, invite the local TV affiliates, invite the community bloggers to come in. That’s an opportunity for you to familiarize the local media with your operation, build some good will, and not only show them what your business is, what you’re doing, and who your employees are, but also highlight and tell some of those good stories about how you’re making positive impacts in your community. Aviation Business Journal | Summer 2020 67
