Avoid getting blindsided by a blog interview
PR blogger Gerry McCusker makes the point on PR Disasters that companies (or anyone) should treat interview requests from bloggers like they would a request from mainstream journalists - what is the blogger’s point view, what is their purpose, will the interview be posted, how will it be posted?
The example he gives of a blogger interview you probably didn’t want to grant involves a woman from the PR department of an Australian bank talking to internet marketing blogger Jim Stewart. The interview is on the phone, but Stewart videos himself and we only hear the PR person.
Stewart uses the video to inject his own silent commentary by making faces to the camera which reflect his opinion of the bank rep’s answers - in other words, he has the advantage in that she doesn’t see his responses. She comes across much worse than she otherwise would have. To make things worse, the interview isn’t simply on his blog, it’s on YouTube too.
BTW the interview concerned a blog campaign on behalf of the bank, in which the hired PR firm left comments on blogs, but those comments were commercial in nature. The bank was now trying to distance itself from the PR firm. Talking to Stewart under these circumstances was clearly not a good way to do that.
Posted: July 14th, 2008 under Crisis Management, Interviews Gone Bad, Phone Interviews, Setting up Interviews, Technology and Media Interviews, Tips for Interviewees, Video Phone Interviews, Web Interview Case Studies.