Journalists don’t like to be handled.
The Country Music Association is apologizing after the backlash it received from guidelines the organization issued to media outlets for the 51st Annual CMA Awards ceremony. In those guidelines, the CMA threatened to revoke the credentials of any media member asking about sensitive issues in the broader news media like Las Vegas, gun control or politics.
The policy read:
“In light of recent events, and out of respect for the artists directly or indirectly involved, please refrain from focusing your coverage of the CMA Awards Red Carpet and Backstage Media Center on the Las Vegas tragedy, gun rights, political affiliations or topics of the like. It’s vital, more so this year than in year’s past due to the sensitivities at hand, that the CMA Awards be a celebration of Country Music and the artists that make this genre so great. It’s an evening to honor the outstanding achievements in Country Music of the previous year and we want everyone to feel comfortable talking to press about this exciting time. If you are reported as straying from these guidelines, your credential will be reviewed and potentially revoked via security escort. We appreciate your cooperation in advance. If you have any concerns on your coverage plans, please reach out to the CMA Communications team in advance so we can be a great partner as we celebrate ‘The 51st Annual CMA Awards.’”
Steve Cavendish, an editor with Nashville Scene, had little patience for the guidelines.
[RELATED: Craft messages that resonate with internal and external audiences and moves them to act.]
Even country music superstar Brad Paisley, who is slated to co-host the show with Carrie Underwood, weighed in on the matter with some critical words for CMA:
A handful of Paisley’s peers weighed in with similar sentiments:
It was at a country music festival last month in Las Vegas that a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds. The incident thrust the music genre and many of its artists into the nation’s ongoing gun control debate.
Not long after Paisley’s tweet, the CMA changed its stance. It issued a statement that read, “CMA apologizes for the recently distributed restrictions in the CMA Awards media guidelines, which have since been lifted. The sentiment was not to infringe and was created with the best of intentions to honor and celebrate Country Music.”
Paisley applauded the move and changed his tune:
Here are some lessons from the CMA’s failed media relations strategy:
1. Don’t tell journalists what to write. The ham-handed effort to label certain topics as taboo or off-limits spectacularly backfired—and was derided by journalists and country music stars alike. No one likes being told how to do his or her job. A more appropriate strategy would have been to ensure the awards program offered journalists something else to write about. The event organizers have the power to control the narrative because they control the show; instead of speculating on how the awards show would remember Las Vegas and bring country music fans together, reporters were given a paternalistic media guide to lambast.
2. Don’t threaten journalists’ access. Reporters rely on access to do their jobs. Threatening to revoke access is tantamount to attacking their livelihoods. Not only does such action lack moral courage, it deeply angers the writers and editors covering your event.
3. Trust your spokespeople. The country artists weren’t happy to have their speech curtailed, either. Paisley, in hosting the event, was very capable of speaking in a nuanced way about Las Vegas and the tricky politics facing the music industry.
The Boot wrote:
CMA Awards co-host Brad Paisley has previously stated that he and co-host Carrie Underwood plan to honor those who died and were injured during the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, but will try to strike a balance.
"We're not going to ignore it," Paisley says, "but we're not going to also dwell on that. We have to make sure we honor those we've lost, but we also [have to] celebrate this music, which lives on, and do a good job having the heart we need to have on that night," Paisley adds. "And also the theme of the show this year is very much about unity and coming together as a format."
What would you have done differently, PR Daily readers? Is there a way CMA could have influenced press coverage without sparking a backlash?