Josh Kraushaar: How Campaigns Can Better Handle the Media
Nov 17, 2015Josh Kraushaar, Political Editor at the National Journal with a National Political Reporter’s perspective on how campaigns could better handle the media
“THE WORST THING A FLACK CAN DO IS SPIN ALL THE TIME. IF YOU SAY THE SKY IS RED AND IT’S CLEARLY BLUE YOU’RE GONNA LOSE ALL CREDIBILITY.” — JOSH KRAUSHAAR
In this episode, we speak with Josh Kraushaar, Political Editor at National Journal where he also writes a popular bi-weekly column “Against the Grain,” that takes a contrarian view to the typical Washington cliches and conventional wisdom.
Josh takes us behind the scenes and on the beat of a political reporter. We reverse engineer what it takes to be a good communications director or press secretary by getting Josh to give a national political reporter’s perspective on how campaigns and politicians could better handle the media and get their message out to voters.
Josh explains what it takes to be a successful journalist and the lessons he’s learned from his mentors. We also cover some of the key issues facing politics in America today leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election.
Before becoming the Political Editor at National Journal, Josh was the Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief of The Hotline, known for it’s speed and leading the news cycle. Before that, he covered campaign news as a Political Correspondent for Politico
Josh has also helped co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, which just released its 2016 edition. I got my copy this week and so should you.
He has been covering campaigns and politics for a decade and has actually covered a number of our campaigns. He has a lot of interesting stories and great advice. We hope you enjoy it.
Show Notes:
- Check out Josh Kraushaar’s Bio [Here]
- Check out Josh’s Column “Against the Grain” [Here] and [Here]
- Check out The National Journal [Here]
- Check out The Almanac of American Politics [Here]
- @HotlineJosh on Twitter [Here]
In this episode, we discuss:
- Who is Josh Kraushaar? [3:27 ]
- The impact of Josh’s experience at the Almanac of American Politics and developing a deep knowledge on different districts during his 2006 coverage [5:58]
- Josh’s key mentors and lessons learned from them [7:05 ]
- A typical reporter’s day at the National Journal and the Hotline [9:32 ]
- Josh’s most recent column about lessons learned from the Kentucky Gubernatorial Election [12:22 ]
- The challenge for news organizations reporting on polls [15:09]
- Why “Being on the ground” makes a difference in politics reporting [21:28]
- Josh’s advice to potential candidates on what they should know about the media [23:06]
- Is politics more adversarial these days? [26:37]
- How should reporters build relationship with politicians? [27:29]
- Spinning all the time loses you credibility [31:28]
- Here’s what Josh recommends to newbies trying to build relationship with the media [32:04]
- Do press releases matter anymore? What gets a reporters attention? [33:36]
- What constitutes a good press conference or press event? [35:54]
- From political journalist to a political strategist? [37:58]
- The joys and drags of being a political reporter on the road [39:35]
- How the media handle their campaign coverage [42:21]
- Fast vs fair reporting – the modern challenge in the era of social media [44:43]
- Where to learn more about Josh Krashaar [48:55]
- Guess what Josh would be if he’s not a reporter? [50:27]
Typically, I ask our guests for some local flavor–maybe their favorite restaurant or sites to see–but knowing Josh’s love of sports I thought I’d ask him what profession he would want to have if he wasn’t a political journalist. Not surprising he wants to be:
- Anchor on ESPN
- Play-by-play for Washington Nationals
- Baseball General Manager
- Likes the book Moneyball about baseball analytics
- And Josh’s favorite sports teams:
- All DC Sports Teams, except the Redskins
- New England Patriots
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- Let us know what other topics we should cover!
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