A number of times the media is often blamed for being lazy and uninterested in covering certain stories that one deems to be of human interest. Let me clear the air on this false notion in today’s Slouch. Welcome readers once again to a weekend of carefree, enjoyment and fun reading. Now for us to tackle this matter, that for me, is a burning issue.
I remember seeing our artistes during the carnival season and a few after it had ended take the media to task for their poor coverage of the milestones that had been taking place in the artistes’ career. One fine example was when Blackboy was touring the world and no one seemed to be aware of his triumphs. One individual decided to call the media out on Facebook and that was when the flood gates of comments came in droves. The common consensus was that no one cared about the artistes to give them a “shine”.
Of course that isn’t true and one individual attempted to highlight what our artistes needed to do in order to sensitize the general public. Folks, especially those of you who enjoy the role of artiste’s manager when they are hot and popping, the job entails more than just accompanying them to the parties and collect a percentage for bookings.
It is your job to prepare press releases for these artistes. These are vital to an artiste’s relevance and also comes in handy for media houses when they are preparing the news package. I saw the name of Kartel and Machel Montano mentioned. The belief was that these well-known artistes don’t need to do all that work but that is only true to the untrained eye.
Of course Montano and Kartel won’t be doing that job, because they have an entire team at their disposal. When you get to that level you will too, but for now work with what you have. I am positive none of our most popular names started with a full team in their corner, as you grow and your circle becomes wider, then you can assign PR duties to certain individuals.
Until then, don’t be afraid to reach out to the various media personalities on island to get your message across and don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back.
Have a great weekend ya’ll and God bless.
Scady.P
