Broadcast: September 2019

Is the mining industry doing a good job of promoting itself as a potential investment opportunity, as an employer, and as an enabler of the society we want to live in?

This was a question I asked of my Linkedin followers in August after writing a blog post articulating my own opinions on the subject.
 
Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks the way the mining industry currently relates to and engages with the general public (or doesn’t) is a problem. The post ended up trending on the mining hashtag and over 1.2k people viewed the article in just a few days. 

I thought it would be useful to compile some of the ideas people had for changing the status quo and present them to you. Not as an action plan, but simply as food for thought. 

So, PR folks, the next time one of your mining clients has a brilliant story idea, maybe you could consider calling a national newspaper as well as the B2Bs and explaining why their audience would/should be interested.
 
To the executives, perhaps when your next sustainability report is published you might write an opinion piece for an online news outlet (a big one) pointing out some of the things our industry is doing well.

And to everyone, when you see stories published/TV programmes aired/radio shows say something that doesn’t fairly reflect the work the mining sector is doing, please consider writing to the editor and pointing out their error.

Because it’s something we all feel strongly about and unless we start to take responsibility at an individual level and instigating change, we’ll still be having this conversation in 10 years time. 

Over and out.

Carly

Here are a few of the suggestions that people had:  

• Articles written by mining experts for both print and online publications - not B2B or B2C publications, but national news services. This is crucial; if we don’t take the time to explain our specialist subjects to the general public, someone else will. And chances are, they will get it wrong. 
• Better opportunities for mainstream journalists and editors: invite them to mining-specific events and press conferences, take them on site visits, offer them access to subject matter experts so they can get their facts right. 
• Mining executives: participate in radio shows and podcasts. Don’t be shy
• PR and communications people: prep your executive teams for the above. Encourage them to let their personalities shine through
• TED talks. I LOVE this idea. And there are so many brilliant orators within the mining industry. Please can someone make this happen?
• TV shows: unfortunately the few TV shows that are currently available based on mining (we all know the ones) are staged and dramatised. I’d like to see more documentaries commissioned by the big channels and also for content on demand. I’m putting my hand up for this if any producers are reading…