Wisconsin Group Acting to Thaw Media Relations

The Wisconsin Bankers Association wants the cold war between the media and bankers to thaw.

The trade group's major initiative this year is a public awareness campaign aimed squarely at improving the sometimes icy relations between bankers and the reporters who write about them.

"It's what this association and every association does on an ongoing basis," said the group's president, Ronald A. Bero, who is senior executive vice president at Firstar Corp. in Milwaukee. "We just wanted to focus our efforts on it because we really want to improve the situation going forward. We don't want the status quo."

In speeches this month, Mr. Bero outlined the nature of the problem - at least from a banker's perspective. Some highlights:

* "Too often opportunistic elected officials, some irresponsible activist groups, and too many journalists seem to relish the opportunity to smugly portray banks in a destructive and negative light."

* "I strongly believe that balanced and constructive publicity is sometimes overwhelmed by negative stereotypes and 'bank bashing' stories that have become a very serious problem and all too typical."

* "Too often, reporters display an antagonistic attitude toward business, but at the same time seem downright conciliatory, supportive, and nonchallenging toward accusers of business."

Nonetheless, Mr. Bero said he isn't "press bashing." In fact, he insists that much of the fault for bad bank-press relations lies with bankers, who often automatically view the press as hostile, unschooled in business practices, or too sensationalistic.

"A lot of bankers just wish that questions from the press would go away," he said.

To combat the problem, the Wisconsin Bankers Association is sponsoring a series of meetings at which reporters, editors, and bankers will be urged to talk candidly about perception and reality. With the help of a public relations firm, the group already has put on five workshops to educate bankers around the state in dealing with the press. A key, Mr. Bero said, is that bankers need to have more than a fleeting knowledge of the mass media.

The effort came out of surveys the group did last year, polling both its members and the public about banks' image. The public's response, he said, surprised some bankers - the public's perception was better than bankers thought it was. The public, however, still thought bankers as individual were "stuffy and nonresponsive to personal financial concerns."

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