Why Your Irrigation District Needs a Media Plan Keith and Loren Yaskin.
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n today’s media environment, news travels fast and customers can communicate their feedback and complaints instantly and publicly. This means that organizations like irrigation districts need to prepare for possible crisis situations in advance, by identifying spokespeople, preparing media plans, and proactively communicating with their customers and employees. In this interview, Keith Yaskin, president of The Flip Side Communications, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about how irrigation districts should handle the stressful and ever-evolving landscape of digital media.
Joshua Dill: Tell us about the importance of messaging and having a media plan.
Joshua Dill: How should an organization like an irrigation district prepare for that kind of situation?
Keith Yaskin: Let me give you an example of something we just experienced. Last week, I received a phone call from an irrigation district. The caller played me a recording of one of the district’s customers calling a local morning radio show. The customer had some questions about where the irrigation district got its water. This led to some additional questions about the irrigation district’s new office headquarters. The district felt that the entire discussion on the radio program would reflect on it negatively. The caller wanted to know what
Keith Yaskin: The organization should put together a plan. That plan should start with the key messages the organization would want to share during any given situation and should indicate who on the team will deliver those messages. There needs to be a process in place to enable the organization to respond quickly. In today’s environment, it’s not only important to respond to a crisis, it’s important to do so quickly. Failing to do that can compound the problem. I recommend that irrigation districts have a conversation with their attorneys today. The
Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FLIP SIDE COMMUNICATIONS.
Keith Yaskin: My background is in broadcast journalism. I was a TV reporter for about 17 years. Most of that time, I was an investigative reporter. In 2011, I left broadcast journalism to join my wife, who 2 years previously had founded a media company, The Flip Side Communications. Her background is in public relations and employee communications. Our company is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. We focus on public relations, video production, media training, and employee communications. Our clients include a wide range of companies, from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. We have clients both in the government and private sector.
to do. I think they were also frustrated because the district had purchased advertising with this radio station. I recommended that the district identify an appropriate spokesperson and ask the radio station for an opportunity to have that person be interviewed to respond and to address some of the questions that were brought up in this conversation. The district was able to get an interview time, and staff prepared some messages ahead of time that they wanted to communicate. They decided to stay positive and not to be defensive or negative in any way. Someone from the irrigation district went on the air and, in a positive, professional way, addressed some of the questions that had been previously brought up by the customer. I listened to that interview. I thought it was excellent. It was a great example of how an organization can take a negative situation and turn it around to make it a positive educational opportunity for its customers. The district also contacted the customer and, to my understanding, has offered to set up a meeting with him to address any concerns or questions he might have. The moral of the story is, even if you’re not interested in proactively reaching out to the news media, you should prepare for unexpected situations in which the news media starts talking about your organization. The worst time to start coming up with a plan on how to handle that unexpected situation is on the spot.
