Newsmakers Can Learn Lessons from Watergate

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When You Ask for Questions Ahead of Time

Some newsmakers and public relations practitioners routinely ask for the questions ahead of time when an interview is scheduled.

DO NOT DO THIS.

It makes the reporter think you are nervous--what other reason would you have for needing to prepare?

It makes the reporter think you have something to hide--you must want to make sure the issue you are scared to answer is not on the list.

It makes the reporter think you have no knowledge of how the rules of interviewing work, so you probably aren't going to be a good resource or a good interview at all.

Here are some ways around this dilemma:

1. Ask the reporter for the scope of the interview, the "angle" or if it would be possible to get talking points to help prepare.

2. Tell the reporter you know that she probably won't use them, but would it be OK to send a few questions ahead of time, questions that fall into the newsmaker's area of expertise?

As a reporter, I am offended when the PR people ask me for questions. I usually ignore the request the first time, and if someone brings it up again, well, it depends on the story, but I never send questions. For one reason, I don't have the time. To me, interviews are more of a conversation than a deposition.

As a talk show host, booking guests, I would tell people, "I don't have time to come up with the questions in writing. We are spontaneous. However, if you send us questions you would like us to ask, we might use some of them."

How do you handle this situation?

Good for ABC

This shouldn't be a cause for celebration--or news. Nevertheless, it's good to know that one network is doing the right thing.

ABC Bans Paying News Subjects
ABC News has quietly decided to get out of the business of paying news subjects in connection with exclusive interviews. With no public announcement or fanfare, the news division's president, Ben Sherwood, has effectively taken ABC out of what had become a competitive bidding war for hot bookings. After taking a public-relations hit in several high-profile cases, ABC will no longer be buying photos or video as a way of getting a news subject to cooperate-a process that had become a fig leaf for purchasing interviews. When asked for comment, spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the new policy, saying: "We can book just about anyone based on the strength of our journalism, the excellence of our anchors, correspondents, and producers, and the size of our audience. These licensing deals had become a crutch, and an unnecessary one." The new approach is not an absolute ban, but network sources say it would take an extraordinary circumstance to allow a licensing fee-perhaps once every couple of years-that would require approval at the highest levels. ABC's unilateral disarmament could prompt the other networks to drop out of the pay-to-play arms race as well. Or they could continue to pay big bucks for licensing fees with one less competitor to worry about. "Will we lose a booking here and there? Sure," said Schneider. "Are those lost bookings equal to the credibility of ABC News? Not in any way, shape, or form."
The Daily Beast

Authors, Consider a Book Trailer

Movie trailers, the promotional clips for upcoming attractions that you sit through before getting to the real movie, have been around for 98 years.

Book trailers have only come along in the past decade. But they are rapidly becoming a staple of press kits and grass roots promotion. A well-done book trailer can help sell you as a talk show guest or news interviewee. Some TV stations may even use your video as b-roll during your interview.

You can post your book trailer to your blog, Facebook page and website. You can send it with your press releases. You can put a link in your Tweets and other social media. You can add the link to your email signature.

Please get professional help in shooting and editing your book trailer. I may be biased, but my husband's new trailer is a good example. He is an Emmy-award winning producer, so he has an advantage, but he's not used to being in front of the camera. Take a look and see what you think he does right.

Example of a Good Press Release

New Thriller Ill Wind Re-Visits Worst Hurricane in U-S History; Galveston Storm of 1900 Killed More Than All Others Combined

Film Producer Allen Pits Early Texas Crime Syndicate Against Fledgling Secret Service

June 13, 2011 - Houston

It was the deadliest, most destructive hurricane in American history. Even Katrina falls short in scale and devastation. Emmy award winning TV producer and native Texan Mark Allen uses the apocalyptic storm of 1900 as the backdrop of his historical thriller, Ill Wind.

This year, national weather watchers predict a more-active-than-normal hurricane season - with three to six major hurricanes projected for the Atlantic alone. But none have ever been predicted as severe as the devastating storm that swept Galveston Island more than a century ago.

“Most people have no idea how devastating the storm surge was,” says Allen. “In 1900, Galveston was the fourth-busiest port city in the country, but this hurricane wiped the island flat.”

The year was 1900.

The newly-formed U.S. Secret Service has sent an agent to investigate a counterfeiting conspiracy on the Texas Gulf Coast. He arrives just weeks before the horrible storm’s arrival on September 8th. As he uncovers a labyrinthian network of organized crime, the Gulf of Mexico churns - eventually producing a deadly phenomenon unlike any seen since.

Allen has leveraged his love of the Texas Gulf Coast and its history to produce a riveting historical novel set against a backdrop of utter devastation.

“I’ve always been enchanted with the city of Galveston, its romance and its tragic past,” says Allen. “This is a chapter of American history that has never been fully explored. I wanted to bring it to life with a novel that examines the city, the people and the circumstances preceding the disaster.”

As a child, Allen spent several years in the Houston area, where he and his parents learned to ride out hurricanes in the shower stall with a blanket and a weather radio. Years later, he covered Hurricane Andrew as a journalist based in East Texas. Today, he’s an award-winning TV and film producer and amateur historian.

“I think the lesson is that we tend to put too much trust in technology to protect us or to help control nature. It’s really a losing battle. We’re better at predicting hurricanes, floods and fires today, but no better at preventing them. Look at the Missouri River flooding, the Arizona wildfire or the tragic tornadoes this year alone. Weather is the great equalizer.”

Hurricane season in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico lasts from June through November. Ninety-percent of the storms occur during that six-month window. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that this year's season will be above average, with as many as ten hurricanes spiraling across the Atlantic, many threatening the U-S coastline.

This is Mark Allen’s first novel, now available at amazon.com/kindle, barnesandnoble.com/nook, apple.com and ebookstore.com.

(http://www.illwindnovel.com/)

# # # # #

For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact Jeff Brady at Brady Media Group. 214.265.5670. jeff@bradymediagroup.com

Plea to Business Owners--Get Insurance

Businesses that:

• Manufacture


• Have customers


• See patients


• Build


• Drill


• Hire drivers


• Have employees


• Use chemicals


• Serve food

need insurance. Of course, you have it, you think. But could your business handle the headline coverage that would come with a crisis in an explosion, ugly lawsuit, or accidental employee or customer death? What if one of your drivers fell asleep at the wheel and caused multi-car fatalities? What if one of your employees embezzled, sexually harassed, committed arson or murdered co-workers? Would you be ready to handle the reporters who descended immediately?

Media crisis insurance can come in the form reading blogs like this or coordinating Soundbite Coach training like I offer. But in these times, you might not be able to afford that. Here's a question to think about: can you afford the negative publicity that might cause customers to lose all faith in your products or services?

Documentary Horrifies, Inspires

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will force you to
look at every advertisement, every movie, billboard, TV show and even school fences differently. Product placement didn't used to bother me--it seemed much more realistic than those generic packages that no one really uses.

Now, there is a whole industry based on creative advertising and placement, and documentarian Morgan Spurlock provides an entertaining but horrifying tale of how we are bombarded with ads. Be an informed consumer... OR as a newsmaker... be creative and be inspired about how you can find new property to sell your products or services.