The place to start with is understanding how editorial decisions are made, which is essential if you want to influence them. As an editorial lawyer I have legalled out newsprint, magazines, books, films and TV programmes – such as major hard-hitting documentaries, and lighter material such as South Park.

Everything you read in the media has been legalled by a media lawyer such as me, and all such decisions are based primarily on an assessment of risk.

While the British media enjoys great editorial latitude, it also has regulatory and legal strictures. However, those boundaries are far more likely to be respected where the context of the editorial decision is that the publisher/broadcaster may be held to account if they are not respected.

Consequently, when you or your client are confronted with damaging material being published which is inaccurate to a lesser or greater degree, then for the editorial decision to be influenced in your favour, the perceived risk of being held to account must be raised.

That outcome can only be achieved by a professional whom the editorial lawyer will recognise as being capable of holding the publisher/broadcaster to account; i.e. one with the same knowledge and expertise.

It is not sufficient just for that risk to be raised – though that itself will have a positive impact. To achieve the optimum outcome the editorial lawyer, when advising on the editorial decision, must also be provided with the evidence that is likely to achieve a successful challenge to the editorial content; such as by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) or Ofcom, with the possibility of a legal challenge in the background.

Both IPSO and Ofcom have editorial codes with which all editorial decisions should comply. When complied with, those codes can work to avert, or at least significantly dial down, PR crises. That is why in my book, Reputation Matters I explain why the key period for crisis PR is prior to publication, rather than trying to undo the damage thereafter.

Read the second tip on influencing the editorial decision with Ofcom and IPSO’s regulatory and legal structures