Only you can prevent story fires… or you can try
Ben Silverman, a former journalist who writes a column for PR Fuel, tells this story of a reporter getting things wrong - then offers ten tips to try and minimize such problems:
I was two beers into my weekend last Friday when a reporter from the West Coast called to confirm something with me. I had spoken to her a few days earlier for about twenty minutes, talking about a subject I knew pretty darn well.
“OK, so, I just want to make sure I got this right. You worked with John Doe [not his real name] and did business with him?” the reporter asked.
“No,” I said, “we were in the same business at the same time and crossed paths every so often. I had no relationship with him though and he probably has no recollection of me.”
“Great, gotcha,” the reporter said.
Gotcha indeed, because when the story was published, it sounded as if I was the guy’s best friend.
The error I committed occurred during our original phone call. I spoke too fast, went off on tangents, and I did not qualify some of my remarks. In the end, the reporter burned me, but I lit the fuse.
Silverman’s ten tips on what interviewees can do to try and prevent errors in stories make a very useful read - here’s one you don’t hear that often:
7. Confirm What the Reporter Is Saying
My biggest fear is that a reporter will give me bad information. It has happened before - resulting in me looking like a dunce. If a reporter calls you and runs some information by you, make sure that you can confirm it. Obviously some stories will be about speculation. If that’s the case, there’s nothing wrong with offering an opinion. However, if a reporter calls and says, “The President called you a skunk,” make sure that he really did.
Posted: June 26th, 2007 under Accuracy, Guest Experiences, Interviews Gone Bad, Tips for Interviewees.