Talking to the Press Considered Harmful

[Tim May]

On Tuesday, October 9, 2001, at 07:59 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:

> That's always an engineer's problem. :)
>
> Tech may be a partial solution. Tim could tape-record the conversation 
> (or, if there were sufficient market demand, conference in a neutral 
> party to do the recording) and damage the reporter's reputation capital 
> by posting the audio clip if he ends up misquoted.
>
> This obviously requires more effort than he appears willing to spend. 
> But some PR flacks do record conversations with journalists for 
> precisely this reason. (Less so damaging reputation capital, more so 
> obtaining a clarification/editor's note if something goes awry.)

Declan and others know this well, but it bears repeating:

-- the main reason people give interviews is to get their name out in 
the press, to drum up business.

This is why people will drive 20 miles to get to a television studio to 
appear for 70 seconds on CNBC or CNN. All they want is the exposure.

Ditto for most telephone interviews. Most people quoted are selling 
something, either a product or a consulting business or just want 
exposure for future uses.

There are a very few journalists who are actually doing in-depth 
coverage of some topic. These journalist cultivate a handful of sources, 
sources who are not necessarily interested in getting 25 seconds of 
"face time" on a network.

--Tim May
"You don't expect governments to obey the law because of some higher 
moral development. You expect them to obey the law because they know 
that if they don't, those who aren't shot will be hanged." - -Michael 
Shirley