How to Master the Media v3.0

How to Master the Media v.3.0 is the definitive textbook by veteran journalist and media trainer George Merlis on the subject of controlling media interviews. Drawing on his four-decade high-level career in print and broadcast journalism as well as his three decades as a media trainer, Merlis brings together in these pages the definitive techniques for controlling any media encounter, from the friendly chat with a local reporter to the challenges of a 60 Minutes investigative expose. This example-filled, contemporary and updated textbook contains a wealth of information on new media, new techniques and new behavioral science, giving readers tools to effectively reach the public through media interviews. There is also a chapter on crisis communications which any institutional spokesperson will want to read. And there is an all-new chapter explaining how the 2016 presidential campaign served as a proof of concept for the rules Merlis has devised.

George Merlis is a veteran print and broadcast journalist who now uses his 40 years of high-level experience to inform his work as a media trainer and crisis communications consultant. Over the last three decades, Merlis has trained spokespersons in commerce, science, government and entertainment. As the go-to trainer for NASA and the popular music sector, his clients have ranged -- literally -- from rock stars to rocket scientists. ABC News anchor emeritus Diane Sawyer said of him: George Merlis knows everything about blasting through the background sound and making your point. He is not just a great coach for acing a media interview - his rules work for all of life." He is the author of the new How to Master the Media v.3.0, as well as three earlier books on the subject. He has also co-written two books on energy conservation and a novel. As a TV producer, Merlis has been nominated for nine national Emmy awards and has won one. He has been executive producer of Good Morning America, The CBS Morning News, The Dick Cavett Show and Entertainment Tonight. He has conducted or overseen more than 10,000 interviews, the vast majority of them on live television -- the most demanding situation for both interviewer and interview subject. Earlier in his career, he was a newspaper reporter and served as the day city editor of the country's largest afternoon newspaper. He is one of the few journalists to have covered on the scene and first-hand both the 1961 building and the 1989 destruction of the Berlin wall. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and has traveled the world both as a journalist and as a media trainer and crisis communications consultant.