Newspaper Mentions

Do you need to make the papers to become a real RLSH?

No.  It does give you a little publicity and brief fame, which tends to feed the ego.  It’s not publicity that makes a hero, it’s actions.

If you do end up with a little publicity, you should be prepared for the good and bad outcome.  By doing a google search, or by checking Herocore’s list of news articles, you’ll start noticing common trends in reporting on RLSH activity: novelty of RLSH, positive perspective but with social/cultural commentary, and negative perspective.

Novelty reporting - This is kind of a fluff piece.  While they tend to come off as positive, there is an underlying “can you believe this is real?” sort of feel to the article.  Always acknowledge the article in a positive light and keep doing your thing.  The public tend to respond positively to these types of articles.

Positive perspective but with social/cultural commentary - These articles are positive in nature, but are heavily embedded with social and/or cultural commentary.  We saw this with Angle-Grinder Man and Terrifica.

Negative perspective - These articles are negative in nature and can drive public opinion of you down.  Remember Phoenix Jones?  Do you remember the positive news articles or the negative ones?

How to Deal With Negative Publicity

Being prepared to deal with negative publicity is a big deal, especially nowadays with social media and people being such extremists with their opinions. These aren't the only methods, so do some reading online to see how else you can handle this.

• Press Release - If you are branding your RLSH persona, you’ll want to have a press release ready to go if something positive or negative occurs.  While you can put a spin on things, it is recommended to take the high road with negative press - acknowledge, apologize, provide some sort of reasoning behind your actions, and then add in a positive spin.

• Gather Facts - It's better to take 24 hours to gather all the facts and correct data before responding to negative press, then to post spontaneous outbursts as a quick response to negative press. The last thing you want is to have the wrong facts on an issue.

• Limit Internet Time - Limit your time as your RLSH persona on the internet.  If you start looking for public opinion on yourself, you might get into some online tiff and it can snowball very quickly.  Perhaps make scheduled public announcements, like every Wednesday evening or every Saturday morning.

• Avoid News Fights - You don’t have to like the actual press (newspapers, magazines, TV news), but you should always strive to be cordial.  If you pick a fight with a news agency, expect some deep dives into who you are.  If you are having a tough time with the press, just figure a way out of the conversation without pissing people off.

• Silence is Okay - Silence is okay.  Let people and the press rant on if they need to.  You know it's going to die down over a few days.  You could also use a few days to create a press release, if you need to.

• Outperform Bad Press - Actions speak louder than words.  Ignore the hate, let your actions speak for themselves.  Keep doing good.  This will be noticed.