Never Say “No Comment”

The phrase “never say no comment” may be the most unanimously agreed-upon rule of media relations. This mantra is so fundamental and basic that there is actually a book called “Never Say No Comment”.

 

The reason that it is an essential, never-to-be-broken rule is that simply by saying “no comment”, you are making a comment.  The comment you make is equivalent to “I have something to hide” or “there’s more than we want you to know about this story”. Any good reporter will immediately go on a hunt for more detail. If that’s what you want him to do, then say “no comment”.

 

There is always a way to answer a question without divulging negative or confidential information. You will give away less by giving brief answers. The reporter will also like you better because you are easier to quote. However little you chose to say, don’t even consider lying. Speak with a confident tone. One good policy is to answer with your opinion instead of cold, hard facts. Sentences that begin with “At this point, I think…………………” are less committal and less firm than “Yes, it’s true that………………”.  Certainly writers and editors can edit out the first few words of your comment. You will always run that risk. But, it will still have less of an impact on how they proceed than “no comment”.

 

It is not only the reporter who may dig deeper or become suspicious when you say “no comment”. You are really talking to the readers or viewers. And, you have no way of knowing who is among them. Besides any members of the public with an interest in the subject, you may send other journalists in search of what is behind your refusal to comment.

Don’t Be Sensitive If You Want Media Exposure

Media coverage is not for the thin-skinned. Being in the public eye is not for people who want to be selective about what is said about them. High visibility comes with a lot of media coverage over a long period of time. Some of it you will really like. There will be other times when you don’t like the way you were portrayed. Unless the facts are not accurate, you just have to live with it. To be the subject of newspaper or television stories, you relinquish control to the writer and editor or producer.

Very few people like when we see their own quotes in print. Everybody can think of a better way they could have said it. It’s also true for those of us who work in the media. If the tables are turned, and someone else writes about us, the same thing happens. It’s also true when someone else describes you. It is easy to blame them for their perceptions. But, ask yourself if it was actually inaccurate or just different than the way you perceive yourself.

The same thing often happens when the story is about an event or organization with which you are affiliated. Don’t get defensive or sensitive. Just realize the long-term value of exposure. Every story won’t be just the way you wanted it, but the pay-off will probably make up for it.

Learn How the Media Works

Last week I sat in a meeting with a prospective client who said “we must aggressively go after all those reporters who don’t do what they should do”. This client was talking about reporters who do not cover an event he sponsors. This week another client of mine is being actively discussed on an internet forum. The subject on the internet forum is a feature article on the client that ran in international newspapers. Some of his friends and associates thought it was “bad press” because it showed both sides of his life. Like most of us, he has been through good times and bad. These two examples both illustrate people, or groups of people, who say they want media coverage but don’t understand the role of the media. The first step to getting media coverage is to learn what the media does. This is also the first step in turning media coverage into good coverage.

Let’s take the first example. The media has no obligation to cover anything. They cover what they believe will interest their readers or viewers.

 In the second example, some people felt the less-than-perfect aspects of the subject’s life should have been left out. The media is not anyone’s public relations service. A journalist’s job is to tell a true and balanced story that will both inform and entertain. If the facts are accurate and the story contains both positive and no-so-positive facts, then it is good press. Exposure and visibility is the objective.

The media is not in the business of cover-ups, painting the rosy picture that a subject would like to see, or of being forced to report on things that aren’t newsworthy. 

We’ll re-visit this subject often on this blog because not understanding what the media does is one of the biggest impediments to getting publicity. It can also be a major cause of getting “bad press”.