No matter what kind of business you’re running, growth is essential. The market is competitive — to remain stagnant is to fall behind.

But beware the downside of growth: As you carefully and painstakingly grow your business, many new problems arise. You may be surprised to learn (if you haven’t already) that the bigger and better-recognized you are, the more you’ll become a target.

That’s where media relations comes in. If you want to reduce all the misinformation and bad press that comes with any sort of market recognition, you need to know the basic rules of PR and media relationships.

For all its difficulties, the media is ultimately a necessary tool you need to learn how to use to achieve success. From learning how to communicate to the market to getting newspaper coverage, from managing crises to building your brand, the media is a resource that can’t be neglected.

With this in mind, we recommend checking out this list of their five favorite media relations white papers put together by the staff over at BNET Media. (Registration is required, but it’s free.)