Politics 2000

My Seventh Rule of Media Relations is When asked for comment, help yourself as much as possible. The story will be done with or without you. It’s nearly always better that the story’s done with you.

When reporters know enough about a brewing scandal to call you in order to ask for comments, they know enough to run the story. They want to appear balanced so they’ll ask for your side.

At this point, offer as much information as you can. You might want to request a bit of time to gather data. Say you need to consult with your staff or lawyer, for example.

Perhaps you want to review the bill for which you voted that will raise taxes 30 percent. Maybe you voted for it because it’ll also solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, honor Elvis Presley’s birthday or expel Rod Blagojevich from office.

You’ll want to be as coherent as possible. So prepare what you’ll tell the journalist. It’s your best chance to make the impression you want. Once the news is broken, you’ll be inundated with interview requests. Keeping track of what’s happening will be difficult.

However, don’t wait long. Every reporter figures if he or she knows what you did, other media outlets ever have discovered or will discover it soon as well. We may not like it but many journalists want to be first at all costs, figuring they can correct any errors later.

You do not want the reporter to end his or her piece with, “Attempts to reach Politician X were unsuccessful.”

The public will think you’re hiding something, even if you’re not. Whatever you say later will not be taken as seriously because it’ll look like damage control. What you say before the news is released is probably damage control too but it won’t look that way if presented initially.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS