WEBVTT - How Publicists Work 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:03.880 Welcome to Stuff you should know from house Stuff Works 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:12.600 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:17.239 There's Charles w Chuck Bryant, There's Jerry so Stub. You 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:22.480 should know. This is it? Well, that sounded like you're 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:26.360 introducing the final episode my voice, this is it feels 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:28.639 like it's the final episode. You won't be able to 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:33.360 talk anymore. No, I'm getting there. That's not true. You 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:39.879 don't know that. How's it going? It's going pretty well? Man. 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.120 How about with you? I think both of us had 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:47.160 a bit of a dark time researching this article. Why well, 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:51.240 because and we're gonna get Well, we're gonna get flak. 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:57.840 That's a teaser from publicists, because what I learned is 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:03.480 that publicists are professional liars. I would say that depends 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:08.200 on the circumstance. Well, what do you mean, Well, you're 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.160 saying they're publicists who don't lie. No, I'm saying it 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.960 depends on um whether the publicist is going to the 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.399 media or the media is coming to the publicist, depending 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:22.280 on the circumstance. What I am saying is, no matter 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:27.240 what who you work for, if you're a publicist, then 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.399 a percentage of your job will be lying depending on 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.679 the circumstance. So so Billy Rays lie about something good. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.040 Billy ray Cyrus is like, I am going to donate 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.720 a bunch of time and money to a local homeless shelter. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.640 You don't about that. The publicist gets on the horn 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.840 starts letting everybody know, you guys should come cover this. 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.040 Billy ray Cyrus goes and does that, and everything's good. 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:54.880 Then on the way home, Billy ray Cyrus decides to 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:59.280 celebrate by drinking a bucket of tequila and runs his 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:06.480 car into a uh whatever. Okay. The publicist then starts 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:11.160 getting calls and says he didn't drink a bucket of tequila. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.800 That wasn't even happen. That's overstated what really happened with this. 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:19.960 So the circumstances depend on the the whether the publicist 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.959 is or not. Oh yeah, I'm not saying that all 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.200 publicists do is lie. But I'm saying if you work 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.240 as a publicist, part of your job is to cover 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:33.960 tracks and to lie um and you know that. Don't 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.919 hate the publicists, hate the system, is what I say. Yeah, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.720 they're definitely a part of a larger system. Yeah, a 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:46.280 larger system which includes all of us who digest news. Yeah, 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.679 especially say like entertainment news, that kind of thing. Um, 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.200 there's like there's a whole there's two. From my understanding, 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.560 there's two routes a person can take as a celebrity. 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:01.520 You can either just go off and be a normal person, 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:06.000 and depending on your level, you might have paparazzi following 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.079 your that kind of stuff. There's once you get to 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.080 a certain level, it doesn't matter what your decision is, 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:14.600 or you can hire a publicist and feed yourself right 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.840 into that machine to get as much publicity and as 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.960 much pressed as you possibly can. Yeah. Well, I think 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.560 any celebrity is going to have a publicist, but it's 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.040 really a matter of your directive and your goal. I 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.280 think some of those people like to be like that 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.400 the old adage there's no such thing as bad publicity. Yeah, 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.960 I I ran into that that that's more of a 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.360 PR term, where like, so if you're in the PR, 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:42.120 you're probably representing a company or an organization or something 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.880 like that. A publicist is somebody who typically represents a 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:51.000 single person, an artist and author, a musician, um, something 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.120 like that. That's really the only definition I confined for 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.600 a publicist, and the the job the goal of the 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:03.920 publicist is to you, um, help maintain and promote the 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.600 public image of that person that they represent. That's right, 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:11.280 by um having a good relationship with the media, Yes, 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.320 that's the publicist. Uh. And by the way, that no, 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:17.279 no such thing as bad publicity. I tried to find 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.240 the origin of that, and the closest thing I could 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.560 find was P. T. Barnum. But I don't know if 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:27.039 that's true. I don't think that's verified. We Twain, Yeah, 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:31.360 PT Barnum or Mark Twain. Everybody says Mark Twain saying uh. 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.400 And I don't think that's even true anyway. I think 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:36.440 maybe that used to be true, that it was a 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.440 Mark Twain saying no, that no such thing is bad publicity. 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.159 I think at one point that may have been sort 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:47.200 of true. Yeah, these days there's clearly bad publicity. So 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.159 you I said the word flak earlier as a teaser, apparently, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.880 um too. Flak or a flack is a term originating 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:03.160 from Gene Flak, early movie publicist Hollywood, and that's right 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.960 f l a K to take. Flak is named after 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:08.919 a type of German gun in World War Two. A 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.120 German anti aircraft gun. Two different things, but in this 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:16.880 case it is a pejorative term for publicists. They don't 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.839 like it. Pr flack Yeah, you shouldn't say that to 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.479 someone that works in PR, or call them a liar. 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.760 They don't like that either. Um yeah, I looked it up. 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:28.920 Apparently it means that like, you can't be trusted, you'll 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.919 you'll do anything for money. That's what a flackist. And 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.000 then that's like they one article I read said that's 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:40.400 like calling a personal injury attorney an ambulance chaser. Just 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:45.400 not a nice term. So there you have it. Uh So, 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.440 a publicist, like you said, works for their client to 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.080 make them to get their good deeds out, and too 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.560 if they don't have good deeds, to spend things to 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.159 make it look like they do. You know, here, hold 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.120 this baby lamp. Yeah, we take your picture exactly, and 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.640 then they get photographed later eating euros down the block. 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.960 The two events were totally not connected. No, So the 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.600 what they do is they pitch ideas to the media 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:19.040 and they probably have to be good writers themselves because 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:24.440 the press release oftentimes is a starting point. But press releases, 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.120 as we know, I can get lost in the shuffle 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.480 and never see the light of day. Yeah, it seems 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.960 like a huge wasted time. It can be, but uh, 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.880 if you have a good publicist, um, they will be 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.520 well connected to the media to ensure that that uh 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:45.160 publicity blast is not lost, right exactly. So there's um, 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:49.920 there's direction one, which is from the publicists to the media, 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.080 and the publicist is going to have all these contacts 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:58.160 with different entertainment reporters and business reporters and anybody that 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:01.560 can possibly run the story. Yeah, anybody that could possibly 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:08.320 run a story on um their client rights. And they'll say, um, 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.920 Billy Ray is going to donate some money. He just 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.760 seems like the type who would donate a bunch of 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.280 money to a homeless shelter and go down there himself 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.600 and help out. So Billy Ray is going to be 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.880 down there. Plus it's it's it rolls off the tongue, 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:26.120 Billy Ray. Um, So why don't you send one of 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.440 your cover reporters down and and let's get some coverage 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:33.160 for this. And since their friends, since these people have 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.760 worked together for decades, now this reporter and this your 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:41.160 your publicist. The reporter actually might respond and show up 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.480 or the editor or the news producer, whoever the contact is. 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.120 That's great, Like that's you hired a good publicist and 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:50.400 now this story is going to make it out there 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.960 because they didn't just write up a press release with 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.840 a bunch of exclamation points in the headline and facts 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.760 it to every media outlet they could find and get 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.520 your response. Yes, so good. A publicist is only as 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:06.720 good as their relationships, I think. Um. The other way 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.480 on that street that you were talking about is from 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.640 the journalists fact to the publicist. If they hear I 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.520 heard Billy ray Cyrus drink a bucket of tequila and 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.160 ran over a prostitute with his car, they will then 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.560 get in touch with the publicist and then they go jack, buddy, Hey, 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.480 we go back a long way. What I lie to you? 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:30.120 What I lie to you? Uh So that's how that goes, 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:35.520 and they want they will be more forthcoming with people 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.520 who have it's a scratch your back, you scratch my 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.200 type of scenario. Yeah, like that reporter that actually showed 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:42.640 up at the homeless shelter and covered it and made 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:44.840 a nice piece and everything. I'll give you the scoop. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.719 When that guy calls, he's he's going to get the 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.480 better treatment from the publicist than somebody who ignored the 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:56.120 pitch before. That's right, um scratching a lot of back 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.240 scratchings in the machine. I've seen a lot more women 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.200 as bblicists and men, and I've always wonder why that 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.600 it's true. I don't know that that is true. In 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.199 researching this, I saw about an equal amount. I used 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.280 to think that as well, Um, but it seems like 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.440 there's an equal amount these days. It seems like every 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.600 publicist I've ever known has been a woman. And I 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.360 just figured just because women maybe more level headed and 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.199 uh more able to like smooth out a situation has 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:26.199 some big dumb guy. Um, but I guess the guys 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.800 who were publicists aren't big dumb guys like me. I'd 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.319 be a bad publicist. Oh yeah, So what would your 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.400 response to be if somebody called to find out what 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.520 stupid thing you're your client did or why they did 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:40.480 some stupid thing. I'd say, you know, what's really none 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:45.960 none of your business, bad publicist. Yeah well that was 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.240 something I ran across, as you know, saying something like 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.520 my client needs to privacy respected right now, we just 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.240 immediately shut down a relationship that you've cultivated over the years. 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.400 Do you have to give as a publicist you are 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.080 like you, there has to be something that you give, 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:08.160 so you better have something that will play kate the reporter, 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:13.000 but while also is probably not the truth, because that 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.360 reporter will go off and write the truth about your client, 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:18.480 and your client will have just gotten horrible publicity because 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.040 of you. It's a balancing act. Yeah, or they'll just 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.280 say let me send you get back from pet Segal. 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:29.400 You like the last one, right, Uh. But publicist may 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.000 also and it depends people that have a staff of 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.960 people working for them. Sometimes the lines are blurred on 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:42.040 who does what. But a publicist can arrange uh interview 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.160 requests and set all that stuff up. If you have 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.560 like a book tour, or your politician or your band 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.040 with a new album coming out, they might arrange all 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:55.240 those interviews, in which case they are prepping two things. 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:59.360 They are prepping the interviewer saying you can't ask about 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.439 the bucket of tequila. If you want this interview, i'll 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:04.439 give it to you, but this is off limits all 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.319 these things. And then, as we've learned when we've had 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.440 people work with us in publicity, they'll be prepping you 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.160 um on as the interviewee, like if they asked this, 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:17.960 this is how you should probably deal with it. Don't 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:22.400 answer that. Yeah, it's back to what you were And uh, 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.640 my favorite thing ever our videos where celebrities walk out 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.480 of interviews because the interviewer has asked something they weren't 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:33.320 supposed to ask. Those are great. Yeah, not to sit 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.920 around watch those all day. Yeah, you can probably find 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.680 a pretty good super cut of them. Yeah probably. So 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.920 all right, Well let's take a break and uh when 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:43.960 we come back, we will talk a little bit about 0:11:44.000 --> 0:12:01.200 the skills you need as a publicist. All right, We've 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:06.080 mentioned lying and you know, I joke, but for real, 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.679 if you want to be a publicist, you better have 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:12.760 a certain comfort level with with stretching the truth and lying. Yeah, 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:14.160 because you're gonna have to do that. If you're not 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:16.120 comfortable with that, you shouldn't go into that line of work. 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.000 Is that safe to say? I think very. You need 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.679 to be good with people and cultivate those relationships. You 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.160 need to be a good writer. Well, not only do 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:27.360 you have to be a good writer, you have to 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.679 be a good journalist. And a lot of UM publicists 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.160 have a background in journalism because I kept running into 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:39.280 this in this article and another article you sent. The 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.040 number one rule of being a publicist is to think 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.600 like a journalist. Even better than that is to not 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.640 only think like a journalist, but be able to write 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.160 like a journalist too, because as we kind of demonstrated 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:55.760 that the publicist media relationship is a two way street. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.320 The publicist needs the media to publicize and of adding 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.640 manner their client, But the media needs a publicist because 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:06.960 they've got deadlines and they need to come up with 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:11.120 story ideas. And if something is brought to them, that's great. 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.840 But that that media professional has a reputation to protect. 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.959 It can't be like, you know, Billy ray Cyrus got 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:21.880 off of his couch and mail to check for five 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.200 dollars to a local homeless shelter. Yeah, and they came 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:29.000 in a pressure release in a fax machine. That reporter 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:30.920 is not going to have a very good reputation. But 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.800 if a publicist comes to this reporter with a great headline, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:39.720 creative pitch a good story that's tailored to that reporter 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.920 and they're beat and even more than that, tailored to 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:47.680 that reporters audience, there's a good likelihood that reporter will say, 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:52.400 I'm listening and that's just music to a publicist years sure, 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.560 just to be listened to. Yeah, that's when you throw 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:58.960 it into fifth year. Uh. You can't be afraid of rejection. UM, 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:00.920 you've got to be outgoing and you've got to take 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.400 your licks because a lot of your attempts are going 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:06.599 to fail just by nature of the job. So you 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.200 can't get your feelings all hurt. Yeah, you guess you could, 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.120 but you don't want to show that because then the 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.920 journalists would be like, jeez, Chuck, such a baby. You're 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.840 going to be eating a lot. I didn't run the 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.920 story and he's complaining I saw him choking up in 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.560 the bathroom. While they may get a good laugh out 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.520 of that, probably won't want to work with you as much. UM. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.720 You gotta be very patient and you have to be 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:34.520 very flexible because if you're working for celebrities, it is 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:38.480 a very tough job. That's another thing too, So you 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:43.480 are Um, your hours are basically all hours whenever you're needed. Right. 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:48.960 So not only does your publicists frequently also have to 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.360 do other stuff or people associated with the publicist UM 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:56.120 have to do things like pick up things for the 0:14:56.120 --> 0:15:02.520 the client, like um. In addition to that, like the 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.160 higher up you go on the food chain, which we'll 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.560 talk about in a minute. UM, the more that that 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:11.640 client feels a okay with emailing you at three in 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.360 the morning saying like, UM, I need to be reassured 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.680 about my celebrity status or whatever, um, and the publicist 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.040 needs to respond, you're basically on call all the time. Also, 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.760 at three in the morning, your client may have done 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:30.600 something really horrifically stupid and some paparazzi caught it and 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.120 now words starting to spread and you're fielding calls from 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.080 reporters at three in the morning to get a statement 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.560 on what your client did. Yeah. I mean when when 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.760 Twitter came out, I remember thinking at the time, like 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.000 publicists aren't gonna be around anymore because people are doing 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.840 this themselves. Well, they've actually figured out ways to use Twitter, 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.200 benefit ways to use Twitter. But Twitter is also their 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:56.600 biggest security blanket as well, because because of Twitter, more 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.640 and more celebrities are saying really stupid things at the 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.200 publicist is then going to have to cover their tracks, 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.280 so they'll take down the tweet and then try and 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:09.440 spend that or just you know, the apology is always 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:13.440 very funny to me awkward. Well, it's never like, did 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:17.280 you hear about Chris Carter, the NFL guy, he's a 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:24.000 former NFL player wide receiver. Yeah, he um is in 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.920 hot water this week because he spoke. Was hired by 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:29.960 the NFL to come in and speak to the rookies. 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.480 They often do that for guys that had been in trouble, 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.280 to come in and say, don't do what I did. Yeah, 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.160 sort of and um he said in his talk to 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.160 the Rookie Symposium said something about, you know, if you 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.840 get caught with you know, da da da da da, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.040 he just make sure you have a fall guy on 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.560 your team, like the guy in the car that's like, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.640 it's my weed. And he got in big trouble for that. 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:56.880 And his apology. His apology was was like that that's 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.440 not the kind of advice I would ever give young people. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.199 It's like, but that's the advice you exactly gave young people, Like, 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:07.360 how can you say that days later? It's just so obvious. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.879 It's a forced, insincere apology. So we either had a 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:15.439 bad publicist didn't listen to his publicist, because part of 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.800 the publicist job is when you're going to make the statement, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:24.280 the public statement, the public apology, or whatever, the reasoning 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:28.920 behind it, the rationale, the um, the wording of it, 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.639 just the logic behind the apology is probably going to 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:36.000 be crafted by your publicists. At least help they're going 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.040 to help you with it. At the very least, they're 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.200 going to want to help you with it, right because 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.640 they're probably scared stupid that you're going to make it worse. Right, 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.240 And it sounds like there's a lot of crisis management 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.240 and that is a part of it, But publicists also 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.160 are just trying to cook up opportunities. Um. I think 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.640 that that's way more the day to day. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:56.680 --> 0:18:00.239 for sure, depending on the client, of course. Um but 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:04.439 I remember our former boss Connell was in a band 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.240 years ago and I read online somewhere that his band 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:13.439 was I went to Elton John's do you remember this story? 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.359 Went to Elton John's house and spelled out their band 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.919 name and fire on his tennis court. I hadn't to 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.240 try and get on his label or something. That's a 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:24.800 great way to do it, I know, And I went 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:26.160 and asked it. I was like, dude, I can't believe 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:27.840 you guys did that. And he went we didn't do that. 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:29.760 I was like no, and he was like no, these 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.920 our publicists made that up. It's like nothing true about it. 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.520 And he's like no, they completely fabricated that story as 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.560 a publicity stunt that never happened. Uh. Yeah, So why 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:42.880 even go to the trouble of it where you can 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:44.959 just release a story that says that you did that 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.639 you hadn't that amazing when something like that could so 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:52.159 easily be fact check, like by calling Elton John Well, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.159 that's the other thing. Like, I don't know, I don't know. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.800 So I'm curious. I wonder how many media stories are 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.399 just totally fabricated matter of fact. You out there in 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.639 podcast land, let us know if you know a media 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.720 story that was just totally fabricated that everybody takes his fact. 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.880 We want to hear it. I love stuff like that. 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:16.240 I do too. Alright. We mentioned earlier that you might 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.159 end up getting the laundry or dry cleaning as a publicist, 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.520 if you're the publicist intern. Yeah, that's probably what's going 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.240 to happen, is you might get asked to go get 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.040 the laundry and then you will say, sure, I'll take 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:27.679 care of that for you, and then you will go 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.439 down the chain until you find the underling who was 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.040 trying to be a publicist who still does things like that. Right, 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.560 this person may or may not be in college, but 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:39.800 it's probably college age. That's something that I ran across. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:45.480 If you want a career in as a publicist, you 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.440 do not need to spend a single penny on higher education. 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:55.320 The entire career of publicists begins as as a hands 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.119 on experience. You need to be in. You need to 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.159 be literate, You need to prob have a knack for 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:05.960 writing um in a journalistic way and crafting good headlines 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:10.520 and by proxy good email subject lines. But you don't 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.959 If you have that already before college, you don't need 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:16.520 to go to college. No, Like you can go in 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.919 major in journalism or communications or PR. But it's not 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:22.679 like you get that diploma, that PR diploma, and you're 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.680 gonna get like some entry level job as a publicist 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:27.040 and you're still gonna have to work your way out. 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:29.080 See it says right here, I have a PR degree, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:33.080 So where's my job? My advice is to skip college 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:37.440 and go straight into the workforce as early as you can. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:39.000 If this is what you want to do, you know, 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:41.600 I feel and I hope that there is becoming a 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.480 bigger understanding that there are certain fields out there. There 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.240 are careers out there where you don't have to go 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.679 to college, and there are careers out there where, like 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.719 you should go to a vocational school to learn that trade. 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:58.400 That college is not necessarily this end all be all, 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:01.760 that you have to spend money after money after money 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:04.640 to get a degree that might even not be used 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:06.960 in your field. But I mean that it needed a 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.280 degree to do what I'm doing. No one ever has 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:10.879 to see it, all right, And this is a this 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.320 is a perfect example of that, Chuck, Like, to be 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:15.920 a publicist, you do not need a degree. You need 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.960 hands on experience. You need basically what amounts to an apprenticeship. 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:22.320 That's right, Yeah, a good way to say it. So 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:24.600 go in and get that job in the mail room 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:28.399 or as an assistant or as an intern. Uh. And 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:30.119 it would be great if you still live at your 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:32.120 parents house at this point, because you're going to get 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:34.919 paid like next to nothing and you're going to be 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.520 doing all the grunt work. But if you are, if 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.320 you go in there with your mindset to I'm going 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:43.480 to learn this. I want to learn this and move up. 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:46.000 You're you're going to be in the right environment for 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.880 that absolutely. Uh. Like we said, you might be picking 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:52.400 up dry cleaning. You're going to be returning a lot 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.159 of phone calls, drafting a lot of um, probably not 0:21:55.359 --> 0:22:00.280 so fun uh press releases that that is graduated from 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:03.159 the intern. Yeah. Well, I'm talking about being like a 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:07.320 junior assistant right after you get hired on. Yeah. Yeah, 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:11.200 and press releases that aren't like the sexy ones. You know, Um, 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:13.199 you're not gonna be writing like the press releases for 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:15.800 Billy Ray Cyrus in other words, No, those are sexy. 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:20.640 You'll be writing them for his dog, Okay, you know sure, 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:28.200 Freddie Freddie Cyrus, Freddie Freddie Cyrus. Okay. You are going 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:33.480 to be handling your publicists that you work for, their schedule, um, 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.760 their contacts. You're going to be putting together press skots 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.480 and epks electronic press skitts and blasting those out. Basically 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:47.639 all of the um nuts and bolts of the job 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.560 you're going to be doing as a junior uh staff 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:54.720 publicist or an assistant. Not a bad gig if that's 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:56.879 what you want to do and if you stick to 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:58.719 it and you're good at it, you're gonna end up 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:02.000 being a publicist. Not only are you getting the experience 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:04.880 you need on the job, you're also in a place 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.879 where your networking too, because that is probably tied for 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.400 first as far as like thinking like a journalist goes. 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:14.520 You need to be a pretty good networker. That's right, 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:16.280 And you know what, let's take a break and we 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.560 will talk more about networking and some of the skills 0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:38.439 you still need. Cho Can I make a confession, I'm 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:44.480 possibly the worst networker on the planet. Uh, you didn't 0:23:44.520 --> 0:23:47.640