'New Mayor's School' -- syllabus and class notes

Mayor-elect Mark Mallory talked to reporters last week during his first press conference since being elected. Mallory won't be able to attend a seminar on "Mayors and the Media" at Harvard University today because of his swearing in. (Photo by Carrie Cochran/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Mark Mallory might have to ask one of his fellow mayors-elect to let him copy their notes this week.

Mallory had planned to attend the "new mayor's school" -- a three-day crash course at Harvard University in running a major American city -- but decided this week that the demands of organizing City Council would make that impossible.

Besides, the meat of the "new mayor's" session is today, and Mallory will be occupied with day-long ceremonies.

Today's classes alone include sessions on mayoral leadership, crisis management, city budgeting, and ethics in city government, according to a draft copy of the class schedule.

And there's a whole session on dealing with the media -- a subject Mallory admits he could use some tutoring in after being virtually ignored by the Cincinnati media in his decade-long career as a state lawmaker.

New mayors are advised to be honest, let reporters "buy their own bullets" on difficult subjects - don't help them write negative stories - and "call" the media on inaccurate reporting. That's the advice that Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, later president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, gives in his class on media relations:

Non-beat or lazy reporters will hurt you if they don't understand you. Do not assume they'll know what to ask or will make effort to ask for details. This is especially important for TV. For them, tailor a simple message at the outset of your communication. They may buy it and ask for little more from you.

Download the week's schedule for the Seminar on Transition and Leadership for Newly-Elected Mayors (in .pdf format).

Read excerpts of Plusquellic's speech on press relations (in .pdf format).