Unlike professionally trained journalists, many content creators and influencers are not bound by traditional ethical standards. They may not understand or respect concepts like embargoes or "off the record," posing a risk to controlled message delivery.
Media outlets maintain a list of reliable, articulate guests. By delivering a compelling and well-prepared interview, you can become a go-to source for that outlet, securing numerous future media opportunities from a single successful appearance.
When a journalist uses an emotive, negative word like "crisis" in a question, do not repeat it in your answer. Reframe it with a more neutral term like "issue" or "challenge" to prevent your soundbite from reinforcing the negative narrative.
To stop a persistent negative line of questioning, use specific internal statistics. For example, responding to claims of poor quality with a five-star rating figure. Journalists are less likely to challenge hard data they cannot immediately disprove.
A common journalistic trick is the "Columbo Question," a final, seemingly unrelated query designed to catch you off guard when your defenses are down. It's a tactic to elicit a candid, often damaging, quote on a separate, controversial topic.
The media landscape has shifted; print journalists now frequently arrive with cameras to capture video for online articles and social media. Spokespeople must be camera-ready for every media interaction, as any interview can become a video segment.
A simple AI prompt can transform your press release into a list of challenging interview questions from a journalist's perspective. This helps you anticipate and prepare for difficult lines of questioning that your internal team might miss.
The Sainsbury's CEO was caught singing "We're in the money" on a hot mic before an interview about a major merger. This blunder went viral and damaged the deal, proving that spokespeople are effectively "live" from the moment they arrive.
A journalist asked the head of Barclays if he'd personally use his company's credit card. His honest answer—"no, of course not, they're too expensive"—became a damaging global headline, showing the danger of separating personal views from the company line.