What you should say to a journalist – as well as what you shouldn’t
In our media training courses, we look at what you should say to a journalist – as well as what you shouldn’t. The initial conversation with the journalist, even before the first question can set the tone. Get it wrong and the interview could go horribly wrong.
Here are four things you should never say to a journalist – and three things you could say instead.
1. What do you cover? I don’t know your work
Journalists have egos. We wouldn’t be in the media business if we didn’t. We’re proud of our portfolios and we hope that people read and watch our reports.
It may well be that you haven’t heard of a journalist before you’re lined up to speak to them, but it’s always worth doing a little bit of research into them beforehand. Not only does this help you to understand what they cover and, if they’re a broadcast interviewer their interview style but it also allows you to compliment them by talking about previous reports that they’ve produced.
Journalists are as susceptible to flattery as anyone else and mentioning an article they’ve written or a report, they’ve produced for radio TV can help create a positive atmosphere before you start the interview.
2. I’ll need to see what your article before it goes out.
There are very few comments more likely to raise the hackles of a journalist than this one. We’re specialist providers of Media Training for law firms and we know, for instance, how lawyers like to be in control. The problem is that journalists take the view that their report is very much their baby. As the interviewee, you’re in charge of what you say but the journalist is in charge of how they use it.
So, what can you say instead? In our Media Training courses for lawyers, we recommend that they prepare beforehand and focus on the one key message they want to get across. But we also suggest that if they have concerns, they can offer to check their quotes. Please note this is an offer rather than a demand and really just a check for quotes and facts rather than a review of the whole report.
3. Anything that sound like a marketing plug
We provide Media Training for fashion brands and Media Training for retailers, among other businesses. We work closely with marketing teams of all kinds of organisations. We actively explore the nexus between media relations and marketing. As journalists we admire the way marketers work. But these are two very different professions in many ways.
As hard-bitten hacks we have a natural antipathy to marketing messages. During our media training workshops, people sometimes ask us what goes on in a journalist’s mind when they interview you. The answer is that we’re constantly thinking of what might be interesting and relevant to our readers listeners and viewers. We know that they don’t want a hard sale by a brand. What they do want is something that will be useful and interesting to them plus some stories and little nuggets of information.
If you tell a journalist that we provide the best possible service to all of our customers we are immediately going to switch off. However, if you show us how you do this with an interesting inside, a relatable story and perhaps a fascinating statistic then we’re more likely to include your comments in our report.
4. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of this, or have you never heard of this before?
You’d be quite shocked by how little research many journalists do before starting an interview. This isn’t because we’re lazy, it’s just because we’re so short of time. And this problem is getting worse as pay rates fall and newsrooms are cut back – journalist have to cover more stories and there are fewer and fewer specialists with extensive background knowledge of a particular issue.
You might be unimpressed when a journalist asks a foolish question or says something which is completely incorrect or irrelevant but it’s a good idea to hide your reaction.
If you assume that the journalist has a level of knowledge that they don’t have, the danger is that you make assumptions and use language and jargon, that they don’t understand. Very often when journalist get things wrong, we would argue, it’s because the interviewee has made assumptions about their knowledge and did not explain things clearly enough.
It’s also a good idea, unless you know the journalist well or you’ve had an extensive briefing from your PR company, to ask the journalist in a relaxed friendly way how much they know about the subject. You could also ask how much research they’ve had a chance to do. As journalists we quite often treat this as an opportunity to confess that we know very little about it. As the expert that you can then be our guide and mentor. We’re always looking for people who can explain complex issues simply and provide easily accessible insights and background information on a particular issue or sector. You can become our go to source for quotes and information.
Media training courses
OK, so those are some things you shouldn’t say to a journalist plus some comments that would work better. If you want to develop this and know how to get the best possible media coverage or ensure that your clients create a good impression with journalists when you arrange for them to do interviews then do get in touch about our media training courses. Let’s talk! You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
