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This section covers preparing to talk to reporters, and tips on how to be effective with both print and electronic media. To make the section easier to read, the term "readers" will include "viewers" and "listeners."
Before any media interview, think about who the real audience for it is. With whom do you want to communicate? Most of the time the audience will be the readers, not the interviewer. Think about who this interviewer's readers are. It can vary enormously from paper to paper, and station to station. Decide what message you want to send to these readers. Remember when you think about targeting a message that although it is smart to focus on the specific audience, you can't limit the dissemination of what you say. So while you want to tailor your remarks, don't say anything you would not be comfortable having another audience hear.
Develop a quotable way to put your message across. You need to be able to sum it up in a short sentence or two. The summary should take no more than 7 to 15 seconds to deliver. It should use the kind of words average people use in conversation.
You might summarize a job fairness argument by saying:
"It comes down to this. In a world where you've got to work to eat and have a roof over your head, it isn't fair to let someone who does a good job be tossed out of it because the foreman doesn't approve of her."
The phrases you use and any analogies you draw should be colorful.
When you get called for an interview, ask the reporter what she or he wants to talk about before you agree to do it. This is completely defensible; you wouldn't talk with a reporter if you didn't know anything about the subject. Most reporters will willingly fill you in. Offer suggestions about the story -- what it might emphasize, or ways in which it might be better if the focus were changed a bit. Reporters often don't know where they are going with a story idea at first, and you may be able to significantly shape the story.
Once you know what the interview is to be about, think about whether you can bridge from that topic over to the message you want to deliver. Most of the time, you can do that easily.
If the message you want to get at is about job fairness, and the interview is to be about whether the policy will interfere with religious freedom, you can bridge to your message like this:
"We are for religious freedom; the government should never interfere with matters of conscience. But that doesn't mean people's beliefs should be able to control whether someone with different beliefs can work." [Then segue into your job fairness point.]
If you can't bridge to your message, think if there is a message which is important to get to this audience which you can tie to the interview. If not, you probably should not do the interview.
Once you know your message and your bridge, and have a quotable summary ready, get the arguments you'll make in support of the summary ready. Most of them should be in colorful shorthand as well -- no more than 20 seconds or so to deliver. You can give reporters more detailed explanations, but both print and electronic media are unlikely to use anything more than the summary of your position and maybe the shorthand argument.
The bridge, the summary and the arguments are your "rap." Practice your raps (you'll have more than one, since you have more than one message). Don't memorize them. If you do, they'll sound wooden. But run though them enough so you're familiar with each and comfortable when you answer questions. As you run through them, you'll refine both your ideas and your way of putting them. Try to figure out what the tough questions may be, figure out the answers and develop a rap to answer it in the interview. Again, practice the rap but don't memorize it. If you find it helpful, get someone to practice the interview with you. Tell them to be skeptical and tough.
Always read the morning newspaper on the day of an interview and the evening newspaper from the day before. The reporter will probably have read them, and if there is anything in either which relates to your campaign, it will doubtless come up. It may well have prompted the interview. If there is a locally popular news or public affairs program on the radio or TV (whether local or national like NPR's Morning Edition or Nightline) tune in.
Find out everything you can about the reporter who is coming to see you. Your media committee should keep a log of stories (print and electronic) so you know what each reporter has said about the campaign and any related issues.
First, be yourself; warmth and enthusiasm work with most reporters. Never get into an argument with a reporter, especially not on tape.
With TV and radio interviewers, ask to talk for a few minutes before the taping begins. This is particularly easy with TV, since the person operating the camera will usually be setting up. If you describe your position and main points in a pre-taping conversation, you will often find that the questions will be pitched right at you when the interview starts.
Whenever you can, use the points you've decided you have to make when you answer the reporter's questions. Don't leave them to a summary at the end; they are far less likely to get into the story.
If you disagree with something the interviewer says in a question, say so when you start to answer. Especially with radio and TV, never answer another point first and then register your disagreement. The disagreement must come right after the question, or the question and an answer from you may get broadcast without your disagreement.
If you are asked a hypothetical question, give a hypothetical answer and make sure you say that the answer is hypothetical. If you think the hypothetical is farfetched, say that before you answer, and only respond to the question itself if you think it raises a concern your audience may care about.
If a reporter asks "What would happen if a court ruled that your law required hiring quotas," you might say:
"That's a far-fetched hypothetical. There are laws like this all over the country, some of them on the books for over 20 years, and no court has ever done anything like that."
If a question gives you a set of choices, you don't have to accept them; you can offer your own alternative.
If a reporter asks:
"So when it comes down to a choice between additional burdens on small business or rights for homosexuals, you say we should choose the homosexuals."
You might reply by saying:
"We don't face that kind of a choice. Not discriminating doesn't cost anything, and experience under the laws in other states and cities show these laws don't impose new costs on small businesses."
Don't accept guilt by association, and don't speak for others.
If a reporter asks:
"Isn't your ultimate goal, like ACT-UP's, to radically restructure society?"
Don't try to explain what ACT-UP's goals really are. Instead, just say what your goal is.
If a reporter asks you a slew of questions at once, take advantage. Say you'll be orderly in answering, then pick the question that makes it easiest for you to get to your message, and answer it.
Don't get drawn into a discussion about things unrelated to your proposed policy or the topic of the interview, like religious dogma. If a reporter gets far a field, bring him or her back to the topic of the interview.
When trying to bring a reporter back to the topic, use your bridges if you can. If you can't, just say
"You asked me to talk about the proposed civil rights law. Here's what we think about....."
And go into your message.
If you are going to be on a show, watch or listen to it first. Get a feel for the interviewer and how the show works. Make sure you find out when the show will be on and how long it is. This will tell you something about your audience and something about how many points you can cover (in a half hour show, 2-3 is usually all you can get to).
With electronic media, it is critical that you be able to put your message into a 10-20 second answer. Always make you summary point first in an answer, clearly and cleanly. That means, make it without qualifiers, ifs, ands and buts. After you've made it, enlarge with background. Since you have no control over how the tape will be edited, this gives you the best chance to get your point in.
Don't restate the other side's position. You just give them air time. If you have to say something about their argument, put your spin on it.
If you get interrupted, by another guest on a show or by a reporter or host, don't get louder or faster. You are likely to look out of control if you do. Keep your voice and speed steady and keep talking. Most important, stick to what you were saying. That will highlight the fact that you are being interrupted. If you respond right away, you'll legitimize the interruption. If you want to respond, do it when you finish your point.
When you are on TV, SMILE (unless you are talking about something tragic). TV tends to make people look more dour than they are. If you don't smile, you are apt to look unfriendly. Don't ever get angry or antagonistic. It will usually look like you think an important point against you has been made. At best, you'll look excitable, which is not the image you want for a policy debate.
If you are doing a public information announcement, look at the camera. If you are being interviewed, always look at the reporter. In an interview, you'll look evasive if you look at the camera instead of the reporter. On a show with multiple guests, look at the host or the interviewer. Never look at the monitor (you'll look shifty on screen).
Always assume that you are on camera. You may be. TV likes to use "reaction" shots of people listening to someone else speaking. Never react in a way you wouldn't want the world to see. Never fidget or become agitated. It looks like you think the other speaker has scored an important point. Always assume that any microphone is on.
If a TV show offers you make up, take it. The offer usually means the lighting they are using will make you look pale and sick if you don't.
>> Next: 15. Responding to the Opposition
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