4 proactive steps for when you’re unfairly cast as a ‘Goliath’

“Rocky” and “Rudy” are examples of movies that exploit this natural human desire to root for the long shot, the small fry, those “Davids” throughout the universe who dare to battle a Goliath looming menacingly over them.

Because of a natural desire to paint matters with a “David vs. Goliath” brush, there are inevitably going to be those occasions when the facts of a situation are cherry-picked to fit the archetype. It won’t be fair, and that’s especially so for those who are unfairly assigned the Team Goliath label.

Over the course of my 15 years in public relations and media relations, there have been times when my clients have borne the brunt of biased and lazy narratives. This tends to occur when journalists come up short in securing essential facts and relevant data. Fast-paced news cycles are partly to blame, as are other factors that include a general media instinct to advocate for those have been historically disenfranchised and abused.

That protective “watchdog” function was one of the qualities that I embraced during my 20-plus years as a journalist. It’s a noble and important part of the job. However, the downside of this pursuit is that it can cause a reporter to dismiss, diminish or otherwise disregard information that does not align with the David vs. Goliath theme.