Why does it seem so much harder for business women to build a media profile? Why are women not quoted more often in the media?
A positive story in the media (both traditional and digital) will boost your profile and authority, and spread the messages that are important to you. And media coverage is hard, of course, which is why it still has currency for your profile. But the difficulty of getting in front of a journalist is not the reason so few women are quoted in the press, in my experience. As a business journalist for 15 years, I found women often lacked a crucial component of the credibility journalists look for in a source: courage.
It’s a harsh thing to say; so let me unpack what I mean by courage.
Talking to journalists can be quite intimidating. They are busy, which means they can be abrupt. Only half of them are trustworthy (some would say half is generous), and it’s hard to judge which half you are dealing with. Journalists often focus on the negative, which is not what you and your business want to talk about.
It takes guts just to pick up the phone to a journalist, and too often, women just don’t get to first base. They’d rather be ignored than risk being misrepresented.
Sometimes, however, women lacked the courage to step up to a media interview even when it came to them on a platter. For example, many women who made BRW’s Fast 100 List in partnerships with their spouse would defer to their husband to “handle the media”. On other occasions, women I contacted to speak on an issue would decline, even when the topic was women in business.
Finally, women often lacked the courage to say anything worth reporting. Our conversations would be peppered with “no-go” subjects, such as wealth. (Getting a woman to speak proudly about having made a fortune was damn near impossible.) Even on issues such as diversity and sexism, women spoke cautiously and without passion or conviction. I understand. Labels hurt, and any woman too strident about supporting other women is bound to draw criticism.
But I ask you, so what? Controversy — as with Kim Kardashian — builds profile.
Yes, I do understand the caution women have about media. The media is still a powerful shaper of reputation and one false step can see your hard-won profile obliterated in the wink of an eye.
However, if a woman address each of these issues consciously and develops the courage to get so close to the media, she can start to become as high-profile as she wants to be.
A Kim Kardashian with brains.
There are two other elements to winning positive media profile – knowledge and exposure – which, together with courage, will build your credibility with journalists. I’ll go into more detail next week. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts.
