Drafting a Statement

In the fall of 1997, I pursued a hidden camera investigation on the airline industry. The story, which aired on the nationally syndicated television program American Journal, looked at how children were being cared for when they traveled alone on planes during the busy holiday season. Many parents spend extra money for a flight attendant to chaperone a child between flights, and this hidden camera investigation put these airline programs to the test.

As expected, a few airlines didn’t let the children out of their sight. The kids were watched closely between flights, and some children were even placed in a private room away from the public. They did a magnificent job of caring for the airline’s most precious cargo. But one airline, made a tragic mistake and it was all documented on videotape.

That airline left the child alone. Making matters worse, the child was able to walk off with another person at the airport. The entire time, the flight attendant assigned to the child was busy helping other customers, paying no attention to the unaccompanied child.

That airline refused to talk on camera. Instead, it sent a written response, accusing American Journal of making up a story and sensationalizing the problem. This was not a good statement because my story contained several children who told horror stories of how they were left alone in strange cities. The children described in their innocent, high-pitched voices how they were afraid when they were by themselves in foreign cities.

The airline’s statement made it look out of touch with the people. In addition, viewers watching this program were accustomed to this kind of undercover journalism, so the statement derailed any empathy viewers may have had for the airline industry. The statement essentially ridiculed viewers for watching American Journal.

If you do determine your business is better off by not responding to a reporter’s inquiry, don’t ever say, “no comment.” It will only make you look guilty. Instead, learn how to say no by saying yes. In some cases, you can agree to an interview with a newspaper reporter or television producer by setting conditions that are impossible to meet.

For example, many smaller and medium sized television stations have limited resources. They don’t have the ability to shoot interviews at night or on weekends. The few crews assigned to the weekend or night shifts are typically dedicated to those weekend or late night newscasts.

Many television stations will discourage a producer from pursuing an interview that is more than two hours away by car. If the response is crucial to a story, many news managers will find a way to accommodate the shoot, but if the interview is nothing more than a 20-second sound bite, the station will prefer a written statement. It lowers the station’s cost for a news story and it makes the story easier to produce.

If you agree to an interview in a nearby town or on a weekend, and the station decides it can’t shoot the interview, the reporter can no longer say you refused to talk on camera. This subtle element will also make you look less guilty in the court of public opinion.

Other ways you can say no to an interview include: agreeing to talk on camera without narrowing down the logistics. It’s possible to say yes to an interview, without being able to agree on a time frame or location. We all know many busy executives have conflicting scheduling issues. This tactic will only work on stories that have a tight deadline and a pending air date.

For more on how to draft a written statement for the media, go to www.BeatthePressBook.com