What Every Executive Needs to Know About Scoring Media Coverage

Copyright (c) 2009 Karen Friedman Enterprises, Inc.

Please do not take offense at what I'm about to tell you, but here goes---reporters are not out to make you look good or bad. And, they don't care if you fail or succeed. They are story tellers who want to provide accurate information that means something to readers, listeners and viewers. If you can help them do that, you will be come a valued resource who is likely to score more coverage.

REPORTERS DO NOT WORK FOR YOU Most reporters are decent people who try very hard to write accurate, unbiased stories. But the reporter does not work for you and is not interested in advancing your agenda. It is not their job to make you look good or bad. It's not their job to protect your reputation, to defend you, explain what you want explained or to promote you. A reporter's job is to tell a story,not the story you tell them to tell and not the way you want it told. That's called a commercial.

NEWS IS WHAT OTHERS CARE ABOUT Stories are not about every day happenings like planes taking off safely. It's about the one in a million that crashes. Stories are not about the millions of people who eat spinach every year without a problem. It's about the batch that causes people to get sick. Doing your job is not news. How your job or business decisions affects or impacts their audience is news.

WHAT REPORTERS WANT A reporter's job is to gather factual, accurate and reliable information, condense that information and present it in an interesting manner. Reporters will not always ask the questions you want them to ask. They ask questions they believe their readers, listeners and viewers would ask. They are looking for the most interesting story they can tell, even if it's one you don't want to offer.

KNOW WHEN TO COMPLAIN Just because you don't like the way a story turns out doesn't mean you should call and complain. Media mistakes are not usually intentional, but are often driven by the rush to make deadlines and beat the competition. If the information being reported can harm or negatively affect people, then you need to call and correct the report. But calling simply because you don't like the tone or the way the story is produced will not help you win points and influence reporters. It is the reporter's job to write, produce and edit a story, not yours.

KNOW WHEN TO STOP TALKING Media conversations are NOT conversations. Media interviews should be message driven conversations that help you get your point across and insert that point into an interview even if the reporter doesn't ask you the right question. Long winded explanations, over-explaining, emotional reactions and qualifying get spokespeople into trouble. In media land, less is more.

KNOW WHEN TO SAY NO Every interview is not an opportunity and every interview request should be judged separately. There are some stories you don't want to be involved in especially if you feel it could negatively impact your business. For example, it's probably a good idea to participate in a feature about your company. But if a reporter is doing a broader story on an unpopular topic, you may want to pass. It's important to know the medium and understand the context of the story they are after.

TALK TO YOUR GRANDMOTHER We know you're smart which is why we're interviewing you, so please don't use big words. Speak simply and conversationally. If the reporter doesn't understand you, then they can't explain it to the reader. Instead of getting frustrated or angry that they didn't take time to understand your business, look at it as an opportunity to share, educate and inform. Explain it to them as if you were talking to your grandmother.

JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOW DOESN'T MEAN THEY KNOW Reporters are often assigned stories because they were nearby or not busy at the time. Many know a little about a lot, not a lot about a little. What is clear to you might sound foreign to them. Make sure they understand what you're talking about. Often the best way to do that is to ask them. Reporters are just like you. Most want to get it right, but they can't accurately tell a story that they only THINK they understand.

GLIB DOESN'T MEAN GREAT Being a charismatic speaker or subject expert does not make you a great media interview, which is why media coaching is critical. To maximize that the story will turn out the way you'd like it to, you must learn to prioritize and limit information, deliver it in relevant terms and make it memorable. When you learn to deliver clear messages, reporters will in turn, deliver them for you.

PROVE IT! Just because you say so doesn't mean reporters will believe you. Reporters will not take what you say at face value. That's why the preparation you do before an interview is key.

HONESTY IS STIL THE BEST POLICY Aside from the fact that lying is wrong, unethical and can damage your reputation, it will come back to haunt you. In five years from now, if a reporter writes about your company, they will pull up old stories and remind people of the past even if a wrong-doing has been corrected. It's always better to tell the truth and explain why you did what you did, even if your explanation is shaky.

IT'S OKAY TO BE HUMAN Reporters want to make others feel what they felt, see what they saw, touch what they touched and hear what they heard. In difficult situations, interviewees sometimes forget to empathize and show concern. While you don't want to fall to pieces in front of the camera, being human can make your message much more believable. If you're enthusiastic, show it. If you're relaying sad news, it's OK to show that too.