Working with reporters ... some advice

By Merv Hendricks, Director of Student Publications, Indiana State University
(Reprinted with permission of the author)

Reporters (and editors) see themselves as ...

reporting public information the general population needs or wants to know.
doing a job vital in an open society.
independent, empowered by the First Amendment, which is, they believe, first for a reason.
skeptics: “If your mother tells you, check it out.”
defining stories as news/not news, rather than positive/negative.

helpful and knowledgeable people with specific information who add dimension and detail to their stories
quotable people who make their stories more interesting
adversaries when you don’t want to release information they believe they have a right to
Who they are (student journalists)
Inexperienced reporters ... most are less experienced than the least experienced city reporter
Very part-time reporters who do their reporting in snippets of time between classes, at night, etc.

Answer their questions directly; apply the b.s. minimally.
If you can’t answer, say you can’t. (“No comment” is blood in the water.)
Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth ...
Return their phone calls or meet with them as promptly as possible.
Respect their need to meet deadlines.
Allow your sub-managers (i.e., people closest to the news) to release information.
Don’t try to intimidate or compromise them.

Should you? (Hint: yes. Understand that the time you invest probably will help your cause.)
Help them report the story:
When they call for an interview, clarify with them, for mutual benefit,
the topic and purpose of their story. Suggest research/reading they
need to do before the interview and supply it to them if necessary.
If they are calling about covering a meeting you’ll be chairing or taking part in,
agree to brief them in advance about the agenda.
Also debrief them after the meeting so they can check to see if they understand
what transpired.
Before an interview starts, clarify ground rules with the reporter. The reporter’s assumption, perhaps insistence, will be that everything you say is on the record. Clarify that up front so that neither party misinterprets. If you agree that everything is on the record, don’t expect them to not report something you say but wish you hadn’t. You can ask a reporter to withhold something you said, but (this is an opinion) he/she is under no obligation to do so.
If you want to go off the record, state that beforehand and then state when you want
to go back on the record. Also, you can expect that the reporter may not agree to
an off-the-record arrangement.
During the interview, add context and history to help fill in blanks in their knowledge.
Explain the relative significance/importance of points you make.
Suggest other sources who have more information on the topic