When the media calls out of the blue, what are you to do?

Ask a few questions

If a reporter calls out of the blue, take your time and ask a few questions of your own. Please keep in mind that not all calls out of the blue are those dreadful crisis calls. The yearly news cycle works off of sweeps. At times, when the media calls without an issue occurring involving your organization, during sweep week, actually prior to is when reporters are building stories.

• February (first week)
• May (end of April to end of May)
• July (end of June to end of July)
• November (end of October to end of November)

Story development by reporters occurs ahead of those cycles

You will undoubtedly need to seek advice of your Public Relations team after the call, so get as much information up front as you can about the reporter’s reason for reaching out. You’ll want to ask questions like these:

• What’s your deadline?
• Who else have you spoken to or are you planning to speak to?
• Do you have an angle to your story? What is it?
• Would you be willing to share a sample of questions you’re looking to have answered?
• Who’s your ideal source for this story?

The reporter’s answer to the first question is essential: It gives you a time frame to work with and the reporter will appreciate that you are trying to meet their deadline.

Have a sense of urgency

The news cycle moves at a lightning speed, assume the reporter has a tight time frame. Remain composed, but know that getting back quickly with a response will work in your favor.

Show the reporter that you can be relied on for quick and useful information. This will work towards building and maintaining your relationship. The ability to quickly respond to the inquiries will make it to pitch new stories in the future.

Keep your PR consultant’s number handy

Be sure you seek council with your Public Relations team and legal staff and have them ready when you contact the reporter. This would be the time to utilize the information you have game the questions to assist in your answers to the inquiring reporters questions.

Always have a comment

You must always provide a comment. Saying “no comment” looks evasive and guilty in the eyes of the reader. Undoubtedly, your “no comment” will get printed as such in the paper or reported by the television news reporter. The deceptiveness that the phrase implies the organization is being deceptive.

There are so many ways you can comment on a story or situation without leaving the reporter and your audience in the dark—and looking shady in the process. Here are a couple comments that will always work better than “no comment:”

• A final decision on that issue hasn’t been decided. Can you give me a number where I can reach you in an hour with an update?
• We are looking into this matter closely. Let me get your number so I can call you as soon as I have the information you need.
• I’m not the right person to talk to about this issue, but let me get you in touch with the person who is. Could you give me your number, so that he/she can call you?

All these alternatives to “no comment” will buy you a bit more time to craft your statement with the help of your Public Relations staff.

Have a plan for crisis communications

Not all calls from reporters are cause for concern. However, you’ll will be able to tell if a crisis is at hand from the types of questions the reporter seeks answers. If you feel the reporter’s call is in relation to a crisis—or may cause one—the first four tips still apply: ask questions, have a sense of urgency, and contact your Public Relations team and never say “no comment.”

Crisis communications are tricky situations that require careful navigation. Reporters know they may

not get very much information at first, so anything you say is on the record.

Your Public Relations team should have developed a crisis communications plan even before the crisis situation came up. Organizations who have a solid crisis communications plan in place when crises occur handle them more efficiently and effectively and avoid costly missteps during the whirlwind. A good crisis communications plan:

• identifies approved spokespeople,
• provides a list of key media contacts,
• outlines specific steps to take once a crisis occurs,
• includes parameters for developing transparent messaging, and
• provides guidance on monitoring the media and public outcry.

Reporters reach out to organizations for information for tidbits and bombshells.  Media-savvy leaders view these calls as opportunities more than threats—and to be truly media-savvy, you need to have these suggestions fresh in your mind. When the media calls your answers are crisp, direct and thorough.