The Media Interview

If only I had a dollar for every professional that said the word “off the record” when being interviewed by a reporter…It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s a large, small, private, or public company they work for – if they haven’t received some coaching on what ‘is’ and ‘is not’ appropriate on a media interview, they bring it up. I hate to tell you but I don’t think ‘off the record’ info benefits your reputation, your company, or the reporter. The first step is to get some coaching on appropriate protocol when talking with the media. The next step is to work with a media specialist prior to the interview to come up with the best way to communicate the information. I also suggest that you have your media specialists at the interview with you at all times - even if they are just calling in and are silent for the call – make it a company policy.