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The Fixer

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The Fixer

Secrets for Saving Your Reputation in the Age of Viral Media

Regnery Publishing,

15 min read
11 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

If you need to call Mike Sitrick, your reputation is in trouble – but he can help you fix it. 

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Bold
  • Engaging
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

Mike Sitrick spent years building a reputation as the PR man to call if you are a public figure in a crisis. In no-nonsense language with a bit of swagger, Sitrick recounts how his firm, Sitrick And Company, rescued Michael Jackson’s reputation and estate after his untimely death, and how he challenged the news broadcast 20/20 on its investigation into Metabolife. His “Ten Rules for Engagement” are quite engaging, even when they are familiar. If you don’t tell your story, he says, someone else will tell it for you. His saga will intrigue anyone interested in the reality behind a story – and the stories you never saw because Mike Sitrick knew how to keep them quiet. 

Summary

For a public relations fix, follow “Ten Rules for Engagement.” 

Public relations man and reputation fixer Mike Sitrick believes that “perception is reality.” The public account, or the “story” of an event or a person, matters as much as the facts, but the fact have to be right and truthful. In the age of the internet, reports and sound bites full of errors and misrepresentations proliferate, erasing corporate “good will” and wrecking reputations. The ugliest truth becomes the only truth. The easiest thing for the victim of a smear campaign to do is hide, but that’s foolhardy. Instead, communicate with a reporter and share the facts. If the facts are in your favor, defend them publicly.

Sitrick knows a good story is persuasive. And he knows he can preserve a clients’ reputation if he can come up with an even better story, one reporters will want to print. Sitrick always showcases his clients in the best possible light. He finds that giving a scoop to only the right media outlet to cover the story often is the best way to serve the client. Sitrick chooses what...

About the Author

Michael Sitrick is a strategic communications consultant. Writer and media strategist Dennis Kneale worked for The Wall Street Journal and Forbes magazine.

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