As I catch up on things, a letter from John, and my thoughts below:
Hi,
I enjoy your blog and thought you might be the only one that would write something about how horrible the Mets PR staff is. No one in the media (rightly so) would dare say anything about Jay Horwitz and his staff, but someone really has to question their ability to handle the Mets image in the media. When have they ever been out in front of a story? Why are they the only team that seems to have PR disaster after PR disaster?
I know everyone loves Jay Horwitz and I am sure he is a real mensch, but maybe he is not prepared to deal with the today’s media. The rumors about Beltran last night are a great example. The relations with fans, another. When have the Mets successfully utilized social media to communicate a message?
I understand it is easy to blame the front office (again, rightly so), but why is so much of the Mets internal stuff so public? Why do the Mets (and only the Mets) seem to get into disputes with players and their agents in the press? Why is ever step in the process to sign a player played out in public? The PR staff has to be responsible for this mismanagement, no?
Maybe the Mets Police can ask these questions!
Again, love the blog. Thanks for listening:)
John
As you may have noticed, John fired that off during Beltran-gate. Â I’m sorry it took so long to reply, and I know some other site’s discussed Jay, but I wanted to do so here.
I think we’re talking about several things. Â Jay is in charge of media relations not public relations. Â His job isn’t to make me smile it is as defined below by the always reliable wikipedia:
Media relations involves working with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the news and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.
Don’t get me wrong, I too profess that I don’t “get” Jay, but I assume the reason the (traditional) media love him and I assume the reason he has lasted this long in NYC because he’s good at what he does. Â He likely gets the media what they need, in an efficient and professional manner.
As civilians I think we hear the name Jay Horwitz we get angry about how the public faces of management (Jeff, Omar and Dave Howard) often come across as out of touch with reality. Â As I understand Jay’s job, his job is to alert the media what time Omar is speaking, and maybe provide a recap of what was said.
I think there are some other folks who might be better targets for frustration. Â Some excerpts from the 2009 Mets media guide:
Dave Howard: page 22 says his responsibilities include “marketing, guest experiences, media and community relations…”
Perhaps David Newman who is listed on p.23 as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications is another person to consider.
I’m not going to give Jay a complete free pass. Â Sometime in the fall of 2001 I was working on a 9/11 related public event at a public place for a company you have heard of. Â I made a call to see if any Mets could swing by, as they had a night game and the event was in the early afternoon. Â Mr. Horwitz was professional in quickly returning the call, but I felt dismissed and not taken as seriously as my title at the time deserved. Â Maybe I caught him on a bad day, maybe one needs to be one of the boys club.
As for “new media” – I think we all agree Mets Blog is great and that Cerrone does a great job of maintaining an independent voice while appearing on SNY from time to time. Â I’m unfamiliar with the Mets’ efforts on twitter or Facebook (if any), and I don’t see any evidence that they’ve engaged other blogs in a relationship other than Craig Marino going on the record with Mets Police. Â Sure, I’d like to be on the list when Jay sends stuff out, but I haven’t tried so I don’t know what he’d say.
Thanks for writing John, those are my opinions on the subject. Â Happy to hear from folks who have different opinions, and I still hope Dave Howard agrees to go to a game with me.
Thanks for the response, Shannon.
I didn’t really think through Jay’s title, but whether he is at fault or not, I am still dumbfounded by how bad the Mets are at Public Relations.
The organization seems utterly unprepared to operate in today’s media environment. They always seem surprised by how quickly a story spreads and creates its own narrative. Then, they come out with an underwhelming prepared statement that is easily mocked and makes the story’s new narrative spread even further. It is the same thing over and over (the firing of Willie Randolph, negotiating with players in the press, the ‘issues’ with Citi Field, the Tony B, Omar & Rubin saga, Beltrangate, etc).
It is too bad, because I think the Mets fan base is one of the most engaged in any sport and would really rally behind the team if the Mets reached out to them in a more sophisticated manner. (i.e. treat the fans like adults, not brainless customers).
Again, thanks for responding.
– John
My experiences are that if you have an issue with the Mets, leave your phone number. David Newman tends to field the calls. We had a nasty fallout back during the Last Year of Shea, so we haven’t communicated in a while. (As a smoker, I was disturbed that the Mets imposed a no-smoking-anywhere rule at Shea in 2008 AFTER I bought a ton of ticket plans; he assured me there would be no smoking at Wilpon’s Folly, but thankfully, he lost.) Newman has some virtues—he’s been an advocate for the disabled, especially with the MTA not supplying a wheelchair ramp at Willets Point until 2009. He also agrees that the Mets have behaved in a racist fashion on various Latino-music nights by hiring extra security and roping off areas for family-oriented Merengue concerts.