Do you have what it takes to talk about architecture in the media?

Do you feel confident talking to journalists about your work and topical issues affecting the profession?
Photography by CoWomen via Unsplash.

Last week architecture generated plenty of newsprint, at least in NSW, after the treasurer Dominic Perrottet added insult to injury – following his suggestion the previous week that the White Bay Power Station should be demolished – by publishing a list of 10 more buildings that he’d like to knock down.

That was on Wednesday 25 November, and the story ran across pages 8 and 9 in the Herald with 8 images, plus Perrottet’s opinion piece on page 33. (You can read the stories here and here).

The following day – Thursday 26 November – the Herald published a follow-up article detailing planning minister Rob Stokes’ list of 10 hidden gems (across pages 4 and 5), and a response from NSW Chapter president Kathlyn Loseby (on page 29). On the same day, it published a second response – this one online only – from NSW Chapter past president Shaun Carter, as well as eight letters from readers in the prime spot on page 26.

And on Friday? Another double-page spread devoted to architecture – this time on pages 14 and 15, introducing the pilot-turned-permanent panel of design experts assembled by the Department of Planning. This story probably received more column-inches than it might have ordinarily been granted, thanks to the earlier controversies, and it contained another four photos. Also on Friday, there were another eight letters from readers, again in the prime letters spot.

I thought it would be over by Saturday, but no. Caroline Pidcock and Kathlyn Loseby breathed new life into the story – by then in its fourth day – by reframing it within an Architects Declare lens. (You can read that piece here.) That was a masterstroke! On the opinion pages, Elizabeth Farrelly weighed in with her two cents’ worth, book-ending the debate with her usual keen observations. 

She quoted NSW Government architect Abbie Galvin, who said: “We should be thanking the treasurer” for encouraging the debate, and I have to agree with that sentiment. I can’t remember a week in which architecture was so heavily featured across the News, Letters and Opinion pages of the Herald.

So whether you agree or disagree with the points raised, the lists presented, or the tone of the discussions, there are some useful takeaway messages here for architects who wish to enhance their own media presence.

So what does all this black ink tell us about the state of architecture journalism and reporting?

Architects often tell me that they can’t get stories about architecture featured in the mainstream press.

This series of articles proves that when you get a big, bold controversial statement from someone with some clout – in this case, the treasurer – the media will bite. That’s called a hook; and the bigger the personality and the meatier the bait, the more attractive it is to a publication that relies on eyeballs and attention to generate its revenue.

There is definitely an appetite for stories about architecture - and readers are interested in them, as evidenced by the response on the letters pages. And once ignited, these stories can be fanned and kept alive by looking at them through different eyes or in a new light. That’s especially true if you can encourage learned and well-connected experts to weigh in.

It’s worth noting that the three main architect spokespeople – Kathlyn Loseby, Shaun Carter and Caroline Pidcock – are all seasoned media interviewees. As current and past NSW Chapter presidents, they would have received media training at the start of their terms to help them make the most of their encounters with journalists. They’d have been shown how to put forward agreed positions and to successfully advocate for nominated causes. 

They also have considerable experience in talking to the media, having spoken out on a range of important issues and advocacy topics over the years, and each has a particular topic they’ve become expert in: Caroline is the face of Architects Declare, Shaun led the Save our Sirius protests, and Kathlyn has done an incredible job on building safety reform.

How might these articles inform your own media engagement activities?

All three of the News section pieces were written by one journalist, so if you’re keen to put forward a position in your local media outlet, find out who writes (or reports on radio or TV) about architecture and city making, and get in touch with him or her. 

Offer them a story, or an angle on a current and newsworthy event, or ask if there’s anything they’d like to learn more about over a coffee. Journalists talk to people they know, compiling new contacts in what used to be called a “little black book”, so become acquainted with a couple and you might find yourself on speed dial when something interesting happen and they need an architectural perspective. You can also register on platforms such as SourceBottle, to get alerts when journalists are looking for interviewees.

Of course if you’re going to speak to the media, you’ll need to know how to confidently state your position, so you need to firstly be clear about what your position is – and what it isn’t!; and then be able to articulate it succinctly, in a way that’s easily understood by the journalist AND their audience.  

Remember, you have the most knowledge; the journalist may have some familiarity with the topic; and the audience may have next to none; so make sure you explain your position with clarity. 

You also need to be confident about your ability to deflect any difficult or unwanted questions, so that you are not distracted into answering something you don’t wish to discuss, or have little knowledge about, or that isn’t part of your remit.  

You can simply say, “I’d rather not comment on that”, or “You should talk to so-and-so who knows more about that than I do,” or that old movie-script favourite, “I’ll let you in on some background, Off The Record.”

What type of help is available for architects who want to improve their media engagement?

Starting your media relations journey by getting your work featured in magazines can help you to build confidence talking to journalists, so you can become a spokesperson on topical issues for news outlets such as newspapers, television and radio.
Photography by Phil Desforges via Unsplash.

If you’re worried that you can’t pull this off yet, but you still want to talk to the media – or your job demands that you do – you can take a course or workshop in media training. This is part of the induction process for new Chapter presidents, so that’s one pathway into becoming media-savvy! 

Doing media engagement training can provide you with least three benefits, including: 

• helping you to better frame and state your position on various arguments to people who don’t share your level of knowledge and familiarity with the topic;

• providing advice on presentation, for example helping you to avoid inflecting upwards at the ends of your sentences (which dilutes your sense of authority) or removing the umms and aaahhhs from your responses (which can lead the editor to cut your answers into shorter soundbites than you intended); and

• boosting your confidence through role plays, so that you feel capable and prepared before you undertake your first interview.

(These skills are useful for all sorts of architecture communications, by the way, not just talking to the media!).

Another concern that architects tell me about in relation to speaking to the journalists is the fear of being misquoted. This rarely happens if you’re talking to a professional and experienced journalist, but there are a lot of bloggers/writers operating in the online space who don’t take the same precautions to protect themselves and their sources from such accusations. 

In mainstream media reporting, what tends to happen is that a journalist asks an architect a question, the architect rambles on for five minutes or more, ranging across a series of unrelated topics and tangents, and gives the journalist a more interesting angle than the original question afforded. Unwittingly, the architect is caught out speaking about a topic they had no intention of being publicly quoted on.

Or the architect is caught off-guard by a journalist’s question, and didn’t think to say: “I’d rather not answer that,” so starts responding, but then changes his or her mind. Again, it’s possible the architect says something they later regret.

So preparation and having a clear sense of your talking points - and then sticking to those - is crucial. It can be very off-putting and dent your confidence if you are caught off-guard, so you should definitely take steps to avoid that.

If a journalist asks to record your conversation, it’s a good idea to let them, and you can also make your own recording too, on your phone, as a form of insurance. It’s easy to get your recording transcribed for free or a low fee now, if you need to prove what you said afterwards.

And some publications will let you read or review an article before it is published – for fact-checking purposes, not to rewrite the story or suggest a new angle! – so it pays to ask if that’s possible before commencing the interview. If it is, you have a chance to correct a poorly worded response, or refine your answer to make it more clear, or correct a misrepresentation, if one has occurred.

And if you want to become a confident and prepared media spokesperson, like Kathlyn, Shaun or Caroline? Get some good advice, do some friendly role-plays to hone your skills, and then practice, practice, practice. The more you talk to journalists, the better you’ll be at it, and that’s a great outcome for the profession, because we need more discussions about the quality and value of our built environment in all types of media.

Keeping up with the latest news and current affairs can provide you with cues and prompts to enable you to put your own position forward.

Taking my Architecture Marketing 360 CPD course - which provides a solid grounding in Business Development and Marketing concepts - is also a good way to build confidence around communicating as a subject matter expert to wider audiences.

You can find more information about the course and enrol in the self-guided online program here.