Publicity Hound Karen Pierce Gonzalez responded to last week’s item about the St. Louis politician who tried to embarrass a TV investigative reporter by answering the reporter’s question with comments about the reporter’s relationship with Jesus. He ended up embarrassing only himself.
If you missed it, it’s the first item here: http://tinyurl.com/2uaubg
Karen, who worked as a journalist for many years, writes:
“I remember one person in particular pitching me a story idea about how, as a church minister, he picked up trash on his morning walks. The idea was catchy (God’s Garbageman) and I thought that would make for a really fun human interest story.
“However, when I actually sat down to interview the man, he grilled me about what my angle would be, what tone would I use, and how I would present him to the public.
“I reminded him that he came to me with a story. Then I calmly asked him what he thought I should do. After some silence, we were able to resume the interview. The story came out (making the front page because it was so unusual) and he returned to the newsroom with a very large bouquet of flowers for me.
“Thanks for reminding readers that journalists are people, too, and that most of us really want to do a good job and write a great story. Trying to outwit or control the process is not only insulting to the reporter who gets the message that he or she is somehow incompetent, it also ruins future possibilities with that particular media outlet.”
She’s right. There’s nothing wrong with asking reporters what angle they’re going to take. But don’t grill them.
Publicity Hounds can do several other things to ensure a fair and accurate story. I explain them all in “Special Report #1–Damage Control: How to Keep the Media from Making a Mess of Your Story.”Only $10. Order at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g
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