By DAMON MCDONALD
 

SIX months of traveling Australia more thoroughly than the Olympic torch, taking in regional cities and the capitals, whistle stops, and lonely outposts, has given us not only a cumulatively panoramic view of the continent but also a broad insight into the news media. Publicity was the lifeblood of our mission.

Before setting out from Perth on two Harleys last August, we drew up a tight schedule and sent well in advance information on the Huntington Awareness Ride to newspapers and radio stations in the small and big towns and to the dailies, broadcasters and TV channels all along our itinerary

Enthusiastic readers of newspapers and magazines, we learned after 82 interviews with various newspapers 61 radio interviews 20 TV appearances what happens when the tables turn and the stories you are reading are about yourself.
For the most part, our dealings with the media, comprised a wonderful, yet steep learning curve. In the process we were able to experience quite a revealing cross section of the media.

Our media experiences started just before we set out with an article in The West Magazine, a liftout in The West Australian newspaper of August 6 2000. It captured beautifully the essence of what our trip was about but gave us a sense of false security. We thought all the interviews would turn out this good.

This article was followed by numerous local papers and other media up the West Australian coast which covered our story with zest and colour. By this stage we were able to start making comparisons. Not that that was our intention but when you start seeing a few different articles on what you are doing you tend to notice the differences.

Reporting inaccuracy became the first area of concern with some articles. Tracey and I found ourselves looking at each other and saying "that's not right, we didn't say that". In most cases it was a simple comment being translated to paper differently than what was said. But when it started affecting the truth of our story we had to change the way we told our story.

My partner, Tracey has been diagnosed as having the gene of this degenerative brain disorder but unlike her father does not yet have the symptoms. Too many times this was reported as her already having the disease. A fairly significant point and as this was an awareness campaign we needed to address the problem. We were also surprised at how often it was reported that we were doing this trip as a fundraiser and not an awareness campaign.
 
In our efforts to dispel some urban myths about Huntington Disease we were unwittingly, with the help of one or two journalists creating a few more. Our dilemma was how to correct a wrong when it comes out in print and you're already in the next town. One thousand horses can't catch a spoken word, so they say. It's even worse if it is written and it is wrong.

Whilst at uni I learnt a quote from one of those famous people of literature, Anon, who claimed, "Don't write so that you are understood, but write so that you are not misunderstood." We changed our approach so that we minimized the error factor. Although, this didn't rule out assumption on the part of the journalist.
 
What do you do when the media doesn't even want to talk to you? We found that country and regional areas were much more enthusiastic to do a story than the capital cities. Taking into consideration the far greater level of competition for news stories, the media of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were more difficult.

Brisbane was where we first came up with the idea of a Godiva run down the main street. We just couldn't generate any interest in the ride with the media so we thought if we rode our two Harleys naked that it would surely get the media interested. When your budget doesn't allow for a publicist you have to be persistent or very creative.

While we only thought of Godiva as a joke in Brisbane, Sydney almost got the real thing. Closed doors everywhere; most people not even wanting to listen to what we had to say. We managed a couple of radio interviews and a local paper, which we didn't consider a good effort considering how much media there are in Sydney.

We decided to approach the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph and the Australian personally because we didn't get a single reply to any of our media releases or calls. We had found previously that if you turn up in person and people can see your face you can usually get a good response. Not so in that city.

We arrived at the new Sussex Street offices of the Sydney Morning Herald to be greeted by an overcrowded front desk. After explaining our situation and saying that I would like to speak to a journalist,the woman looked at us liked we had walked in from the gutter and said "we don't do things this way, you have to have an appointment". She handed the phone to me with nose in the air and arm outstretched like it was a doggy doo or some other distasteful item and said, "this is the number, you can dial it".

What followed was straight out of a government department in Canberra. The first person I spoke to told me that the Chief of Staff was out to lunch. I then had to explain to nine different journalists that, "my partner and I are traveling around Australia on two Harley Davidsons to promote an awareness of Huntington Disease. We are in the foyer. Could we possibly organize to do an interview?"

We were told they would put me through to the right person. If I hadn't been cut off I'm sure I could've got to twenty. Not to be deterred I rang again but I could only manage six different journalists before being told that the medical writer was on holidays and can you ring back in three weeks. I explained that we were only in town for another day, the person said they would transfer me. I was cut off. We left their plush offices fearing we may have disturbed their morning tea.

We then arrived at the Holt Street offices of The Australian to be met with a more friendly response. The lady at reception explained that we did need to make an appointment, but she would try for us if we took a seat. Our new friend was unsuccessful in her attempts but gave us the number that we could dial direct. She wished us luck on our journey.

Tracey and I stood for a minute wondering what to do, whether to have an ice cream to cheer ourselves up or try the number. After a long moment of contemplation I started dialing the number. I was transferred only twice before getting a positive response. Asked if we would like to organize a time I said that we were standing out the front, would now be OK? What transpired from that was one of the best interviews of our whole trip. Persistence pays off.

Persistence did indeed pay off in South Australia. In Port Augusta after doing a really uplifting interview with ABC Radio I contacted the editor of the Transcontinental Newspaper, only to be told, "We get people like you through here every week". She said they wouldn't do a story.

A good piece of advice we received just before leaving home was "Don't worry about the media, there will be good and bad. (you're not kidding). Be persistent I told myself, so we went and visited the paper personally and after much pleading and biting my tongue, (when I really felt like slapping her with a wet fish), she said they would do a small story. The young journalist rewarded our dogged persistence with a well written article.

Whilst in Port Augusta, two weeks after we left Adelaide, we read a letter to the editor in The Advertiser. The letter, from someone we had met on the way, was criticizing the weekend edition of the same paper, The Sunday Mail, for not running the story on us after they had done the interview and taken the photos. We found it highly amusing that they would print a letter that was being critical of the paper, yet not run the story.
Oddly enough, three weeks after doing the initial interview and riding all over South Australia the article appeared just as we were about to cross the border into Western Australia.

Adelaide also gave us another interesting story by way of the Chief of Staff of the Community Papers Group. It made no difference what we were doing, she was adamant: we were not from Adelaide, so no story. (I should have lied). We were however, very grateful that the community papers in all the other states ran a story. I guess they could see some benefit to the people living in their area who had Huntington Disease in the family.

All in all our journey was extremely rewarding and very successful due to a lot of hard work and a very supportive media. Hindsight sometimes allows us to laugh at times that may have been difficult. The media in general treated us very well Although, I don't think I will ever be able to read a paper the same way again.

Thank you to all those involved.
 
 
 
 
 
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