Talking to the Press Considered Harmful

[Declan McCullagh]

On Tue, Oct 09, 2001 at 08:22:50PM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> -- 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.

I've been doing semi-regular appearances on CNN for about four years.
They'll send a car for you if you ask, no need to drive.

But I suppose I fall into the above category. I do TV interviews
primarily because, in no particular order: (a) it's good experience;
(b) it raises my profile and the profile of my employer; (c)
management likes it; (d) I can try to inject some substance into what
are typically superficial discussions. Not saying I generally succeed,
of course. I find that radio shows are better for more in-depth
discussions. Usually, with the exception of NPR, you can do them
from home.

I did NBC network evening news not long ago. I didn't feel like going
into their bureau (about 15-20 minutes away),l so I had them come to
my home. It took them about four hours from the time they arrived to
the time they left, mostly lighting and setup. A large portion was
B-roll of me typing dummy entries into Microsoft Passport, punctuated
by me talking to their reporter in NYC via a speakerphone sitting on a
chair while I pretended to look straight ahead, as if I were looking
her in the eye. Sigh. They used about 7 seconds of what I said.

-Declan