ABC's of Media

Why did we write this book? When we signed off from doing a nightly newscast years ago, our first customers called request-ing our media training services. I guess it is in our DNA to help people understand what they’re working with and dealing with as they face the complexities of the multi-mass media world we live in today. People see the lights, the cameras and the headlines, but hardly understand what it might mean to be the center of a story. That alone, does not offer a level playing field for the subject. We have spent a good part of our professional journalistic lives covering all kinds of news makers. Many of them, had they talked to one of us first, would not have committed some of the on-air or print gaffes that have ruined careers. It is our sincere desire to see people be the best that they can be, especially since the world is watching in real time. Whether you live in a small town or the Nation’s Capital where local news is national, we want to see you deliver your message in a manner that is clear, concise, compas¬sionate and believable. So, in the spirit of full disclosure and telling it like it is, Doris and I decided to sit down and dissect the process of learning how to talk to the news media. We have applied the process with great success. There’s nothing to fear, nothing to memorize; this book can serve as a guide or primer, if you will, that you can use the minute you get a call from a reporter or news organization. In the end, how you look, how you sound, and finally what you have to say, will determine if your 15 minutes of fame work in your favor or cause everything to go up in flames. Inside this book, we look at those who have been burned by the glare of the light and we offer advice on how you can avoid the heat. After nearly a decade of training together--we know it works--we have the reviews to prove it. Now, it is your turn to be the judge.

What’s the story? That’s always the first question to ask, especially if you or your company may BE the story. When reporters show up at your door or call you on the telephone, they are looking for answers to questions (Nothing is too personal for them to ask.) We know what we’re talking about. My colleague, Carolyn Sawyer and I have been asking those questions. As a result of training so many people, we developed the tools to create Media Masters. Our objective is to help you have the right response when a journalist is asking you about a story that affects you and/or your company. We have both worked in major news markets, to include network television and radio, as well as, assignments abroad. I started my career at WJR radio in Detroit, Michigan in the mid 70’s. I was a Mass Communications major in Radio, TV, and Film. I was still in college, attending Wayne State University, when I landed my first job. My radio professor recommended I apply for a news reporter’s job at WJR. It was a powerhouse station, with a fifty thousand watt, clear signal. People who wanted to work in radio would have been happy to sweep floors just to work there. (My retired military Dad used to listen to me when he was living in Omaha, Nebraska.) That was just the beginning. From Detroit, I moved to NBC Radio News in New York, as an anchor and correspondent. Reporter/Anchor jobs in New York television would follow. My first TV gig was with the Metromedia, Channel 5 station (now FOX-TV), then onto WABC-TV, the network owned and operated station. A move to Washington, D.C. would place me at the ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV, then onto Black Entertainment Television and other radio and TV outlets across the country. Carolyn, also the daughter of a retired military man, (We are both Air Force brats), started in the mid 80’s in Spokane, Washington at the legendary KHQ-TV. It would be the first of several top-rated stations she would work across the country. The call letters read like a who’s who of top journalistic outlets; WIS-TV in Columbia, SC, WSB-TV, Atlanta, Ga., and WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. In her early twenties, Carolyn landed a job at ABC Network News in New York and later anchored for Lifetime Television Cable Network. It would be over 20 years later before we would meet. But Carolyn recalls reading in a national magazine of my career changes from Detroit to New York.

Doris E. McMillon is the President and Chief Strategic Officer of McMillon Communications, Inc. Her company provides services that help her clients effectively communicate their message and style with confidence and power, through Media Training, Executive presentation and Image coaching as well as Voice and Diction coaching. In business for 25 years, McMillon currently serves on the Board of the Women Business Owners of Prince George’s County, Maryland. Her career has afforded her the opportunity to broadcast for major radio and television stations in Detroit, New York and Washington, D.C. In addition to her anchoring, reporting and talk show host duties, she served as the Moderator for Education News, Parents Can Use, a production for the US Department of Education. In addition, McMillon plays herself as an anchorwoman in Clint Eastwood’s movie, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, Wesley Snipes’ movie, MURDER AT 1600, HEAD OF STATE, with Chris Rock and the late Bernie Mac. She also plays herself as a news anchor for the WEST WING, THE WIRE and NCIS. McMillon is the author of the best-selling autobiography, MIXED BLESSING. It tells of her search for her biological parents. Her mother is German and her father, an African American G-I. A documentary entitled, Brown Babies, The Mischlingkinder Story shares the lives of these children of mixed heritage, born in Germany and adopted by American parents. The documentary won first place in the American Black Film Festival in 2011.