PowerPoint Presentation from Martha Filipic and Tracy Turner
CFAES Communications Resources: Ready When You Are
Martha Filipic: We wanted to start with a video to show you what happens when an interview goes badly [link within PowerPoint presentation]. It’s kind of dated, but it illustrates a few things about what can go wrong if you let them go wrong.
Tracy Turner: You never want to be in a position where you feel attacked or feel defensive and make the situation worse, so we’re here to give you some tactics.
Martha F.: Why work with the media at all? It’s still important even in this day and age. Media is not dead–it is struggling financially–but an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer or the Columbus Dispatch reaches hundreds of thousands of people, and even more in their online sources. That’s a lot more than you could reach on your own on social media or otherwise.
If you’re not used to working with the media, it’s important to know where they are coming from and what they want.
Tracy T.: They want information and they want to report it accurately, not take a stand on anything. Not all media is that way.
Martha F.: The most important thing to a reporter is to be accurate. If they get something wrong, it ruins their credibility as a professional.
Tracy T.: Reporters try to get viewpoints in the story and strive for balance, and that’s why you get opposing views in coverage. When someone in an interview says no comment, then only “point A” gets across. It puts them in a bad position. Your name will still appear in the paper, but it will say you said no comment and it looks like you have something to hide. Even if you don’t like the questions that you’re getting, the journalist is trying to get both viewpoints in the story — that’s why they’re asking.
Martha F.: There is no truth out there. All there is are people’s perspectives and that’s what you can do as a reporter. It’s not their job to determine who’s telling the truth, it’s their job to report what the people are saying.
Reporters will ask for human interest or human interest questions, they may ask a poultry scientist “do you personally buy cage free eggs?” but you can respond to questions in ways that the reporter isn’t getting at.
Tracy T.: I was at the Columbus Dispatch for 12 years. They look for a “real person” voice… They want a real person who is impacted by whatever is happening in the story.
We also have to talk about brevity. Most stories are short, so during the interview get to the point. Time and space are money and most people don’t read the whole story, they read the headlines and first paragraph.
Come up with key points you want to get across in the interview and hone in on those points. Keep repeating them so that what you want to get across comes across.
Martha F.: Be brief and concise and make sure that you know what the reporter is looking for. And please understand the media’s deadlines. They need to get things out as quickly as possible. Especially with things online, things just move quicker. It’s a constant news cycle. Try to respond as soon as you can.
Tips for working with the media:
Respond quickly to a reporter’s contact. Imagine your computer isn’t working… You contact IT and then you wait because you can’t work. That is what a reporters whole day is like. Just contact them and let them know what time you can talk. If you’re the first person to talk to them for a story, you set the tone for the story which helps your case.
Tracy T.: If someone calls you, it’s okay to ask them what the story is about and what the questions are. You can let them know that you will call them back. You can ask for a few minutes to gather your thoughts and set a time to call them back.
Martha F.: Make sure you use that time to figure out what your key messages are. If you don’t know what your key messages are, the reporter isn’t going to know what your key messages are. Then, you can always revert to your key messages no matter what the questions are.
Tracy T.: You can redirect questions. Journalists will have leading questions. Most of the time, the reporter is going in with an idea of what the story already is. Even if you don’t answer the question directly, it’s okay. Just stick to your key talking points.
Martha F.: There are times when you’re very comfortable with the story, you can answer questions directly. Absolutely. This is about if you’re uncomfortable with a question or if you know there are specific things you want out there. There are ways to do this diplomatically. We’re not politicians, we’re scientists and academics.
Tracy T.: Know your reporters. You can Google them, find out what they write about, what are their key issues, what’s their writing style. You can find out if this is something you want to be a part of.
Martha F.: You should expect “stupid” questions. Reporters don’t have your expertise. You’re the expert. They’re relying on you. Reporters are taught to ask for a way for readers to understand, at a sixth grade level. One way to get you to respond in a basic way is to ask a very basic question.
Tracy T.: Remember, their ultimate goal is to make sure that they get things right.
NEVER say no comment. It gets in the paper and makes you look like you have something to hide.
Martha F.: Instead you can say “I think you’re talking to the wrong person” or “I’m not sure that I’m the person to address that.”
No comment is a red flag to reporters and to readers.
Do not ask to review the story. Most news organizations will not allow this. If you’re nervous about an interview, you can say “I’m not sure if I was articulate today, could you send me the quotes you’re going to use from me? I just want to make sure that I got it right.” It’s worth a shot especially if you’re worried about it.
Tracy T.: If they are unable to do that, you can send them an email and say “just to reiterate, this is what I meant…”
Be cautious, reporters can be friendly, but they are not your friends. There is no “off the record.”
Martha F.: Don’t fall for the “silent treatment” when they are sent during pauses in conversation. Be comfortable with the silence and wait for the reporter to ask the next question. It’s a technique that some reporters use.
Tracy T.: Abrasive questions… Unless you’re a politician or something, the story isn’t about you as an individual. Some stories have hard questions that need to be answered. Be grateful and remember that they’re not attacking you as an individual, they want your perspective as an expert.
Watch out for Jekyll and Hyde and be professional no matter what. They’re going to be friendly and make people comfortable and then ask the hard questions.
Martha F.: If you respond by getting angry or losing it, maybe you’re under stress or there is tension. Don’t do it because it just makes you look bad. Rarely does it make the reporter look bad. This will sit with you.
Tracy T.: The interview isn’t over until it’s over. The banter, the small talk, just because you don’t see them writing things down, just because the camera isn’t pointing at you doesn’t mean the camera isn’t on. Most reporters aren’t trying to trap you.
Martha F.: If you feel like you’re on the spot, take a deep breath before answering the next question. Keep your response short and talk slowly.
Don’t dwell too much on the question. Your goal is NOT to answer all the questions, but to address the question and respond with your perspective. Never portray anger or defensiveness it just makes you look bad.
Tracy T.: When the interviewer asks if there’s anything else you’d like to add, reiterate your main points. Even if they don’t ask that question, you can tell them towards the end, “I just want to reiterate my main points.”
Martha F.: If you have an interview live on the radio, we can help or coach you, we can go over your key messages, etc.
Tracy T.: If you have something you are working on, we can do an interview with you and write the story. We will send the story back to you and then we will send it out to the media. We’re in-house media so our goal is to make you comfortable with what we send out.
We also have a faculty experts list that goes out to the media, so you can be added to this list if you’re comfortable talking about your field.
Steve Slack: I get called fairly frequently and the first thing I want to know is who is calling me and what the topic is. If I don’t know who the person is, I will go online and check that out. I will usually also call communications to ask them what they know about the person or who they’re representing. If I know what the topic is, I write out my points and have it on a note in front of me and I try to stay to that. If you start talking at length they have to summarize that. Is better to have a short, pointed statement because then its harder to be misquoted.
The point about getting back quickly… It is important to our organization. It reflects on the whole organization. I never say anything to them that I wouldn’t want to appear in print because no matter how much you trust them you just never know.
The most difficult thing is when you meet the reporter and meet them in a different venue. What you think is casual conversation, might be a story.
Question: What are best practices to get our own research publicized a bit more?
Martha F.: Something that might be important to you might not be newsworthy to the media world. But if you have something of larger interest, give us a call. We can write up a news release. That’s our job … to figure out what’s newsworthy and put it into language that the media will respond with.
Tracy T.: Something unusual is good for us. Chat with us about your rearech. We will flesh it out. If you want to be on that experts list, we’ll respond with a news release that says we have these experts in X, Y or Z so if you’re working on a story, call our expert in this field.
Martha F.: What is the problem we’re addressing and what is the solution you’re proposing? We have to make sure that what we put out is of interest to the media. We don’t want to look too internally focused.
Tracy T.: Reporters are looking for interesting or unusual tidbits even if it’s not huge or ground breaking research.