When a Reporter Calls
This article is featured in our latest edition of The Rising Tide, a weekly online publication for business people and economic developers. To read the entire edition, subscribe?here. ?
If you are a senior executive for a company or a nonprofit organization, particularly if you are the chief executive, it is quite conceivable that you may get a telephone call from a newspaper or broadcast reporter who wants to ask you questions.
Bruskly saying "no comment" and hanging up is one option, but it may not be the smartest.
It is my belief that the leaders of organizations should have a basic understanding of news media relations.?Recently I saw that among the teachings of a two-week, university-based economic development course was time devoted to how to handle what I will broadly call the press.
Quite frankly, most consultants/instructors who advise on media relations have never spent a day in a newsroom, much less had experience as a working journalist. I spent 20 years working for two daily newspapers, my last job being that of business editor.
Here's what you, a business exec, need to know
1. You are not compelled to speak to the reporter if he or she calls you. That is your choice. (But it may be in your best interest to do so.)
2. You are entitled to put your spin on a story.
3. But, but, but: Never lie. If you do that, your credibility is forever shot. And it may be proven that you lied.?
?Off the record versus not for attribution
Something else to consider. There is a difference between off the record and not for attribution.
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If you and a reporter agree that your comments are off the record, it means the reporter technically cannot use them. Not for attribution means the reporter can use your thoughts and/or comments, but cannot attribute them to you.
At the two dailies that I worked for, if we had three independent anonymous sources telling us the same thing, only then would we run with it. Also, we never burned our sources. Had a judge ordered me to reveal my sources in court, I would have gone to jail rather than doing that. Thankfully, it never happened. (I once had a federal judge miffed at me for reporting an arrest for jury tampering in a trial in his courtroom.)
Contrary to popular belief, most reporters do not have political agendas. The overwhelming majority are professionals who report the news straight and do not include their personal views. (An editor's job is to make sure that is the case.)
Some more things to keep top of mind
1. Sometimes reporters get it wrong. They are, after all, human and working on deadlines. Very seldom is it intentional, again, despite what many people think. The thing is, if you have a relationship with a reporter, you have the opportunity to set the record straight when mistakes do occur. And the reporter will appreciate that. But don't go immediately into attack mode. That will not help you.)
2. Face it, not everything the press reports is something that you are going to like, even when the reporting is factually accurate. (An economic developer may not like it that your mayor said something incredibly stupid about economic development, but if hizzoner said it, well, it's fair game.)
3. It's not personal. When I started off as a police reporter, I told the cops this. "Look, when you do something great and heroic, I'm going to report on it. But if it appears that you really messed up big time, then I'm going to report on it. Got that? It's not personal. I developed some pretty good police sources by being straight with them."
4. Relationships are based on trust. As a reporter, I developed relationships with sources who knew that I would not burn them. Consequently, they told me stuff. Sometimes, my sources didn't necessarily always like what I reported, but they knew I was fair, accurate, and had a job to do.
I recently saw where the subject of news media relations was included in a two-week university class for economic developers. Naturally, I had to wonder if any of the instructors truly knew what they were talking about. If they had not lived the life, I don't think so.
Dean Barber is the principal of BBA, a Dallas-based advisory firm, and publisher of?the weekly newsletter?The Rising Tide . Need a speaker for an upcoming event? Message him via LinkedIn or go to barberadvisors.com
Good advice, Dean. In all of my professional positions over the years, I tried not only to just respond to media inquiries but also to have a good working relationship with media folks, even developing some social friendships (but always keeping the two separate). The reality is they are doing their job just as the economic developer is his/her job.
Consultant and Advisor
2 年Thanks Dean, "Bruskly saying "no comment" and hanging up is one option, but it may not be the smartest.", Dean it's a lot more than dumb! It's one of the oldest inane responses, whether in the public or private arenas. This is 2022 and its after nearly 3 years of the most energized and focused effort by folks to evaluate their futures. I just finished some pro-bono HR work for a startup. I wrote / edited over 40 job descriptions. These included Head of Public Relations, Marketing Manager, Management Organizer, Public Relations Specialist, Management Director and Economic Development Manager. Every one of which has a responsibility and recommended procedures to keep the company's goals and objectives current and available, and fluency in the company's branding and status. Given the increasing competition across many, many sectors, 2022 and beyond will not be kind to those who thoughtlessly avoid opportunities to communicate their messages.
Communications and Freelance Writing Professional
2 年Well done, Dean. As a 33-year newspaper veteran, now retired, I can say this is a great intro on how to work with legit news media. I spent many hundreds of hours on complex issues trying to understand how things work, why and what went wrong etc. Bent over backward to be accurate, above all else, and fair. I ended up having good relationships with a lot of people, business people, that may have initially thought I was the devil. Playing by the rules laid out here will usually result in a good outcome. Notice I said legit media. There's a lot of not very legit "media" in this internet age. If you don't know the journalist or reporter or do not know the "news" organization, ask for background and work samples. Any reputable journalist will provide it.
Editor of Alabama News Center
2 年Good stuff!