What the media gets right and wrong about land use issues

When industrial companies prepare to speak with media, we have experiences to share with them. Recently Abbey Sanderson of Vulcan Materials Company and Ryan Rauzon of Summit took the stage to share media relations stories and counsel. They shared with colleagues and peers at the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) Conference. When journalists cover California land use issues, some of them too frequently fail to include crucial context, background, process and history in their stories.

Abbey and Ryan showed examples of this type of reporting. They urged companies to do more to educate newsrooms on the history of their operations and how they’ve made improvements to become safer, cleaner and better stewards. Sometimes companies think it’s best to operate in the background and to actively avoid press attention. They’re focused on doing their jobs safely and that’s the top priority. But they need to share their knowledge with newsrooms today more than ever before. Strong, local, responsible journalism has never been more important to local operations. At Summit, we prize the work that helps companies improve relations with local media.