This is the third of a three-part series on how to deal with news media.

So far, we’ve discussed 1) How to Guarantee Your Startup Won’t Get News Media Attention, and 2) Dangerous Demos. Here’s the final episode: Part 3: How to [Not] Alienate News Reporters. Hopefully, these three posts will help you understand and deal with the news media (including analysts and bloggers.)

 

Let’s start with “Monica’s Miranda Rights” 
When dealing with a journalist:
1) You have the right to remain silent.
2) Everything you say can and will be used against you.
3) There ain’t no rights to an attorney. (You may already be an attorney.) But in some circumstances, you may want to bring your attorney to an interview.
4) You won’t get paid. Legitimate news organizations rarely compensate individuals for being interviewed. (However, in high-profile stories, like kidnapping or celebrities, some outlets will pay for exclusive rights to a story, for example, People magazine.)

Understand the differences between:
1) On the record: Assume that you are always on the record when you talk to a reporter, especially if you have been introduced to her or him. It doesn’t matter if the conversation is conducted in a formal interview, at a cocktail party or on a bus—always assume you are on the record. Reporters have egos too, they may assume you know you are a journalist even if you only met them once in a crowd.

2) Off the record: Make sure that if you want to be off the record, that you get the reporter to agree to that, before you answer a question. If you try to retroactively say you are off the record, you will come across as a neophyte and will lose credibility with the reporter.

3) Not for attribution: NFA can be a very powerful tool, and can help you get your message across. But before you talk, you must get the journalist to agree with you on exactly how you will be described. The journalist will want to give as much information about you as she can, so that the readers can assess the credibility of the source. But you want to be sure you can’t be ID’d.  For example, if you are on a board of 30 people, and you are one of 3 women, if you agree to say that the reporter can cite you as a woman on that board, then it will be very easy for people to figure out who you are—and you may alienate the other two women.

4) Background: Giving info on background can be very effective—but is risky. It means that the reporter agrees that you will not be identified in any way. But if, for example, you are one of only three people who know that information, it will be easy for your bosses to figure out who talked. Reporters don’t like background, but sometimes it is the only way to get important information to readers.

Why this is important for your career—and the reporter’s.
Like all humans, reporters can be good, bad, mediocre, indifferent, remarkable, ethical or slimy, ambitious or a slack, so forth and so on. Many reporters have “beats,” where they cover the same companies and topics. If you build a genuine relationship with the reporter, and earn mutual trust over time, that can be an asset for both you and the reporter.

For example, many organizations have policies forbidding staff to be quoted—for example, almost always when an organization is involved in a pending lawsuit. But speaking off-the-record or on background can help the reporter understand the nuances of the dispute or situation, which helps both the reporter, the organization and the audience, because they get a more accurate story. And you are more likely to do that if you already trust the journalist.

Tip: One way to earn the trust of a journalist is to send a story tip relevant to her beat that has absolutely nothing to do with you or your organization. But don’t go overboard or you might earn the never-coveted title of being a “media hog.”

 

When it’s bad news
Don’t dodge, tell the truth. Timing can be everything. You might want to send out bad-news press releases on Fridays at 5:00 p.m. But when the news is embarrassing, it’s probably not going to get hidden—because of the tons of social media. So you can’t really hide it anymore. But the good news is that there is a lot more clutter online. Social media can be very fickle, and what you think is bad news may be just an ethereal item in the barrage of online news.

When it’s good news
• Never, ever, ever ask a journalist for “publicity.” That is the kiss of death. Journalists take pride in their work, and they aren’t publicists. They are paid to find and analyze news of interest to their audiences. Be realistic about what’s newsworthy and want’s not. Newsworthiness can be fickle, depending on whether it’s a slow news day or crazed.

• Timing is sometimes everything—know your audience. When good news is not an surprise, time the release carefully. For example, if you are launching a product at annual Legaltech New York each February,  your press release can get buried in the massive snow of emails if you release it three days before the show. You are better off to release it in January, to garner interest by attendees who may put your booth in their “must see” lists.

If you are trying to reach the attention of a full-time reporter working for a major journalism outlet, one tip remains important: avoid Fridays at 5 p.m. unless you are trying to minimize coverage (see “bad news” above). [We’re almost all human, and like our weekends.]

• Be sure that you are approaching the right journalists and media outlets. It’s better to have a small item in the right sites and publications than a big one in the wrong venues. If you don’t already know, take the time to determine which publications, blogs, academic outlets, videos, television, etc. cover your organization, and identify the most important voices.

Critical Don’ts
• Never ask a reporter to read you the article before publication. It marks you as completely naive. However, you can ask the reporter to let you see quotes, but there’s a risk. If the reporter is on a tight deadline and it’s a breaking story, she may not have time to email or call you to verify quotes, and that may result in less exposure in the story. If it’s a feature story with more time, it’s less risky.
• Don’t ask what position the reporter is taking. That insults a journalist, whose job (in most cases) is to be neutral and write about all sides.
• Don’t ask who else the reporter has talked to. Again, this can be interpreted as an invasion. On the other hand, it never hurts to suggest other sources.
• Don’t assume the reporter is—or is not—a lawyer.

 

Smart Do’s
• Do ask what the deadline is. If you fail to meet a deadline responding to a request, you have lost an opportunity to be included in the story.
• It is O.K. to ask how far along in the process she is. That can give you a sense of what type of comments she might.
• Do ask the reporter if you need to define terms or legalese. The reporter may be too embarrassed to ask. But be sure your tone isn’t condesending, especially if you are a older man and the reporter is a younger woman.
• Do suggest other sources. That helps you build credibility and a relationship with the reporter.
• Be aware of your body language on TV or video. Don’t look like a slouch. If you are wearing pants, wear the same color socks and be sure the pants are long enough when you cross your legs. And yes, if the interview is in a studio, let the professionals put makeup on you—the lighting can be brutal and you don’t want to look washed out.

 

How to Complain
• Pick your battles, especially with “beat” reporters who you will have to deal with frequently. Reporters work on very fast deadlines and mistakes happen. Assume an error is an honest mistake. View a complaint as a chance to build the relationship and to have a “teaching moment.” Don’t complain to his or her boss, call the reporter directly and politely explain the issue. (And be sure there is a genuine mistake, not just that you didn’t like part of the article.) Never patronize the reporter. However, if you can’t get it resolved, then tell the reporter you will be pursuing it further up the chain. Be professional. Never, ever bully. As the saying goes, the publishers have the ink (or in these times, bandwidth).

Monica Bay is a CodeX Fellow and a member of the California Bar. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of ALM’s Law Technology News, and is a freelance journalist for Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business and a columnist for Above The Law. Twitter: @Monica Bay Email: mbay@codex.stanford.edu.

SHARE THE SERIES

Part 1: “How to Guarantee Your Startup Won’t Get News Media Attention.”  http://stanford.io/1PUSqy8

Part 2: Dangerous Demos: http://stanford.io/1Q4oD9O

Part 3: “How to Not Alienate Journalists.”   http://stanford.io/1Qgo4pO

Updated Oct. 17, 2016.