Ed Koch’s Advice: ‘Never Walk Away from a Reporter’

The advice above was given to Cathie Black, Hearst Magazine’s chairman and New York Mayor Bloomberg’s selection for the next schools chancellor. Black and the Mayor have been met with a lot of opposition to the selection.

New York’s former Mayor Ed Koch offered these words of wisdom as Black tries to make nice with some of the officials she hopes will support her appointment. The outreach also includes endorsement letters from business leaders, the NY Times says. A panel has formed to mull over the matter.

Lloyd Trufelman, president of Trylon SMR worked with the mayor years ago and calls this a “six-word expert tutorial in media relations.”

“Koch had an instinctive approach to dealing with reporters – quick response, no nonsense, short, genuine, from the gut quotes that were often colorful,” he told PRNewser via e-mail. “It was just who he was and at least for the bulk of his mayoralty, the press loved it.”

For those unfamiliar with the former mayor, here he is straight-talkin’ it up in one of the series of YouTube videos he makes reviewing movies. Not sure what that’s about, but OK.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.