Making Your Point by David Bartlett

Author:David Bartlett [Bartlett, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-312-37896-7
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2008-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

How the News Media Work

When preparing for a media interview you are likely to encounter at least three general types of reporters: general assignment, specialty or beat, and investigative. As the name suggests, the general assignment reporter is a generalist. General assignment reporters usually don’t begin with an in-depth knowledge of the stories they cover. Especially in the electronic media, the general assignment reporter’s job is to gather enough information, as quickly as possible, to produce an interesting story and then move on.

The specialty or beat reporter, on the other hand, will probably come to the interview already knowing a good bit about what you do and how you do it. The beat reporter’s job is to develop and maintain sources and gain some expertise about particular issues. If the reporter has been on the beat for a while he or she is likely to be familiar with you and your organization. This can work either for or against you during an interview, depending upon how you handle the situation.

An investigative reporter is probably looking for trouble. Investigative reporters must be handled carefully. Some automatically adopt an antagonistic attitude when they conduct interviews. Others take a more laid-back approach. Some style themselves as crusaders out to save the world. Others are more reasonable and down to earth. But by definition, investigative reporting is always about digging up dirt and making things happen, usually bad things from your point of view. An investigative reporter or investigative team may spend months working on a single story, gathering data, and acquiring an understanding of the issues involved. By the time you meet for an interview the reporter will probably know a great deal about you, your organization, and the story at hand. By the time your turn comes, the reporter or producer may already have interviewed many other sources, including those on the other side of the issue. Some local television news organizations employ flamboyant investigative reporters whose stock in trade is often more showmanship than substance. They may or may not do a lot of digging into the details of an issue, but if you become their target, you can be sure they will try to do whatever it takes to make you look bad, all for the sake of a more interesting story and higher ratings.

Over the years we have has had the opportunity to work with two clients who found themselves targets of one such investigative showman. Ironically, the story itself was almost identical in both cases, as were the reporter’s tactics and eventual on-air presentation. Both clients were CEOs who headed very troubled companies. One was already in bankruptcy. With the full knowledge and approval of their boards of directors, both were routinely using company aircraft for personal trips or for business travel that could have been accomplished using commercial flights. This is hardly unusual in the corporate world, but it is always catnip for this investigative reporter, who had made his reputation in several local markets by embarrassing

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