PR Tips: Two Media Interview Lessons

This morning on CNN's "Starting Point" program, Soledad O'Brien was interviewing Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) about the Supreme Court's then pending healthcare law ruling announcement. It piqued my interest because Senator Schumer used two smart media interview tactics:

1. Avoid repeating the negative - At one point O'Brien was asking about what people should consider as the main reason for low support for the healthcare reform law. She asked Schumer if he'd consider it a "failure of message" to which the senator replied, "I wouldn't call it that. I would say..." This is a smart and simple approach to a leading negative comment by the interviewer. Don't repeat the negative and give the media that sound bite. Use the opportunity to bridge on to what you need to say for clarification of message.
   
2. Avoid speculations - I bit later in the interview O'Brian was trying to get the senator to talk about what he thought would happen if the Supreme Court ruled against all or part of the law. Schumer initially wouldn't take the bait and opted not to speculate on live TV about next steps. This was probably a result of the Schumer being pretty adept as a politician conducting himself with media. (He later went ahead and talked in general terms about what steps might be taken politically.) It's still a good idea to avoid speculations for anyone being interviewed by the media if ask about an area or possible scenarios that you do not fully know or can share. For goodness' sake, don't guess. 

Related Links:

• Winners and losers from today's Supreme Court ruling: A PR pro's perspective - PR Daily
• CNN, Fox News err in covering today’s Supreme Court health care ruling - Poynter

Being a 'What's Next?' PR Pro

Image via WikipediaI loved watching The West Wing. To this day, if I come across it on television I make a point to watch because of the compelling storyline and characters.

One of the random things I took away from the series was a simple two-word phrase by Martin Sheen's character, President Bartlet: What's next?

When Jed Bartlet is in the early stages of his campaign, and his new young crew is laying out the terrain, he says: “What’s next?” – and then, “When I ask, “What’s next?”, it means that I’m ready to move on to other things. So, what’s next?” [source]

What's Next? and Public Relations
A PR pro with a What's next? mentality is a significant contributor in an organization. You can get caught up in the wins/losses of the day or you can decide that whatever this day brings, tomorrow is next and you need to be ready. I think what helps position PR professionals the best is an ability to enjoy the moments of victories (or lick your woulds after defeats) but then quickly pursue the next challenge ahead.

Consider these: Congratulations on that local/state/national media placement. Way to go, you successfully navigated your organization's leadership through some sticky community relations problem unscathed. Take a bow, that newspaper editorial board is on your side for a change. Well done, you were able to convince your executive to dismiss a bad idea that could have been a catastrophic. Three cheers, you got out in front of a crisis situation and were able to tell you side of the story and thus helped with balanced reporting.

The above are a small sampling of what I'd consider to be public relations victories.

But...

Public relations professionals must take the wins, along with the losses, in stride. Too many things are out of your control. Being ready to move on to other things allows for an appropriate level of professional detachment from situations. This comes in very handy during particularly stressful situations. Additionally, having situational awareness is a valuable asset for an organization. You know when things are working well and you should be able to tell when things are going straight down the tubes. Make adjustments and keep moving forward.

Don't spend too much time patting yourself on the back when things go well or kicking yourself in the rear when things go poorly. Instead, look for what's next.

Speculating to the Media is Playing with Fire

Image by alykat via FlickrEarlier this week, an area chemical plant was engulfed in flames as a huge fire ripped through the facility. I watched with interest not just because of the captivating videos and shocked reactions to the unfolding catastrophe, but also as the local media scrambled to get the latest information from the scene from anyone who would talk. Anyone. One television news station found a worker willing to speak as the fire raged on screen.

What caught my attention about this was the potential for trouble from a PR perspective. The worker identified himself as an employee of the company and said that he lived near the chemical plant and was sleeping when he "heard a loud explosion." The camera was fixed squarely on the fire as the worker was being interviewed by phone from his home. During the phone interview the worker was asked about the incident and he said something that should make the hair on the neck of any good PR pro stand up on end:

"...I don't know exactly, but I can safely speculate that..."
[emphasis added]

Yikes.

In a crisis situation, this is one of those things that you hope never happens from one of your employees. Proper communication protocol and training should be provided. In my opinion, that worker should have never taken on the role as unofficial spokesperson for the chemical company. I don't know what, if anything, happened to the worker that was interviewed.

It's one thing to provide some decent context to a situation by sharing background information on things you know to be true. It's something completely different (not to mention, an awful idea) to provide guesses about the situation on the fly to the media before any official word has been available. As the problem unfolds on live television. After just waking up. Good grief, what a stupid move.  

What do you think, am I being to harsh on this worker's decision to share? Or should his career go up in flames for this lapse in judgment? The comments are yours.
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Thankfully, according to plant officials, employees and visitors of the chemical plant evacuated safely and two employees sustained minor injuries but were not hospitalized.
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Related articles

• Investigators search for cause of Texas chemical plant fire - CNN (cnn.com)

KDFW Channel-4 Pokes Fun of Social Media

Our local FOX affiliate station, KDFW, took a brilliant tongue-firmly-in-cheek swipe at social media in a fun video that was posted to their Facebook page with the title: Social Media Bit - Lone Star Emmys

This is a fantastic example of allowing yourself (even you media outlets) to have a personality. Let your community know you're human and that at times you don't have to take yourself too seriously. Thanks FOX 4 for the fun reminder. Well done.

Mining PR Gold: 5 Tips for Pitching Local TV News

I subscribe to a rather larger number of RSS feeds and e-mail newsletters from within the communications and PR industry. There are some excellent resources out there for professionals who are serious about learning and getting better at their craft. I am going to start sharing more of these great ideas, posts, videos, etc. here on my blog as a way to spread the wealth of knowledge readily available.

The PR gold I came across this morning was waiting for me in my inbox. Ragan.com's PR Daily e-news featured a link to a video by Seth Odell on tips for pitching your local TV news stations. Odell is a former broadcast news assignment editor and currently working in higher ed media relations.

What do you think? Do you have anything to add to these tips? The comments are yours.