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News Interviews: They Don’t Have To Be Like Root Canals
By Eric Seidel
If your business or profession is public relations, you’re probably comfortable with news interviews. But, for most, the situation ranks somewhere between enduring a root canal and an Internal Revenue Service audit.
Just the thought of going one–on–one with a reporter is enough to throw some corporate managers and executives into a paroxysm of anti–media outrage. It can generate snowballing self–doubt even panic as they imagine the absolute worst that could come of the encounter.
- "I’ll embarrass myself"
- "I’ll embarrass my company"
- "I’ll say something wrong."
- "I won’t know all the answers."
- "They’ll trick me into saying things I don’t want to say."
- "I’ll get fired"
Good reporters have lots of sources, and the staple of their professional diet is the interview.
For the uninitiated businessperson, the interview is the place where most mistakes are made, where misinformation develops and where even well intentioned efforts to cooperate with the news media may backfire.
Interviewees often go away from an interview frustrated, anxiety–ridden and angry. Reporters often feel the same way, although from a different perspective. When the story shows up in the paper, or on radio or television, it confirms the source’s worst fears. Most blame the reporter for "not getting it right," which merely increases the sense of mistrust.
It’s a form of self–sabotage, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
10 guaranteed ways to sabotage an interview
Here are the 10 ways organizations and their members most often sabotage their media relationships, as well as individual interview opportunities:
- Ask a reporter to submit a complete list of questions in advance.
This is asking for trouble. But you can and should ask what the story is about, and you should expect an honest, complete answer.
- Insist that "no comment" makes you sound important.
"No comment" speaks volumes, and none of it is good.
- Go into an interview with a bad attitude.
This can only guarantee that a potentially adversarial situation will go wrong. What else can this produce but a bad story?
- Blame the reporter for asking the wrong questions.
There are no wrong questions, only opportunities for you to make a point and to communicate your organization’s messages to its audiences beyond the news media.
- Keep a low profile during a crisis.
Silence may be golden sometimes, but try it here and you’ll find your organization’s image severely tarnished.
- Refuse to ever acknowledge, "I don’t know."
Not only is it OK not to know all the answers, in some situations it can be essential to your credibility as an interviewee.
- Respond to questions when you don’t really know the answer.
This is the quickest way to get into trouble. Why not just offer help in getting the right person to answer those questions?
- Get into an argument with a reporter.
Even if you win, you lose.
- Succumb to an "ambush" interview
You could turn the situation into a positive platform for your messages (or politely decline the interview altogether).
- Throw in plenty of jargon so people will see you as an expert.
It’s a guaranteed turnoff. Instead, speak the language of the audience you really want to reach.
Five ways to get fair coverage
Self–sabotage before the news media happens to the best of organizations. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent it, or turn it around once it has already occurred.
Here are the top five things your organization can do to assure fair and accurate media coverage.
- Establish reasonable expectations about media coverage of your organization.
Serious, professional journalists will never be concerned with your image, so don’t expect it. If your standards for coverage are fairness, accuracy and balance, you’ll be on the same wavelength with most media representatives. If you expect special treatment, better stick with advertising.
- Learn how the news media work.
What is news and what isn’t? How are stories assigned? Remember, news media organizations are for–profit businesses. Media coverage of your organization will improve when you know as much about them as you expect them to know about you.
- Develop the skills you need to work with the media.
Make certain that anyone in your organization who will do interviews has experience and/or professional training in interview skills and crisis communication. Interviewing is not simply a matter of holding a conversation with a reporter. It is a meeting of agendas, and that requires knowing how to communicate your organization's messages.
- Establish relationships with members of the media.
There is no such thing as a last–minute friendship with the news media, especially in the case of a crisis or special event. Reach out. Don’t wait for them to come to you. It’s really no different from your own sales department, or life in general, for that matter. It boils down to three things: 1) Who do you know? 2) How do you get along with them? And 3) What are you doing to maintain the relationship?
- Take responsibility for your own image in the news media.
This is probably the single greatest step any organization can take to improve its media coverage. You might be amazed at how reporting about your organization improves when you stop blaming the news media for bad coverage and become intent on talking to the media effectively to deliver your own messages.
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Eric Seidel is a partner in TMT/The Media Trainers®, LLC, an Atlanta–based firm that provides training in news media interview skills and crisis communication. You can contact The Media Trainers® at 770–971–6619.
