Defending Yourself - from Winning with the News Media

Below are excerpts from the Defending Yourself chapter of

Winning with the News Media

2005 Edition
Copyright ^© 2005, 2001, 1999, 1996

By Clarence Jones

Defending Yourself

Ambush Interviews
And Other Traps

It may be a bright spring morning. You will have no warning, no inclination to be cautious. As you leave your house and unlock the car in the driveway, you probably will not notice the van parked halfway up the block. Even if you are wary, you will not see the hidden camera videotaping everything you do. As you come out of the driveway, the van follows, a discreet half-block behind.

You Will Not Suspect

You drive to your usual parking spot, a block from your office. You do not notice the same van, double-parked. Two men jump out the rear door. One is shouldering a video camera. From behind, they come at a trot. You never hear them.

The reporter steps out in front of you, blocking the sidewalk. At that instant, the cameraman bursts ahead. With a start, you see them for the first time. The reporter says, "Good morning, I’m Mike Wallette from Channel Seven. I’d like to talk to you about your company’s financial crisis."

A Difficult Time —

It is a difficult time, no matter how cool you are. The surprise of the ambush is a jolt. You look frightened. Pulse racing. Breathing short and hard. You have only an instant to decide what to do. You may act reflexively. Five options:

Ambush Options

Punch out the reporter, swing your briefcase at the camera, and run like crazy to get away.

Keep walking, but duck your head and put your hand in front of the camera lens. The photographer will stick with you, the reporter firing non-stop questions, into the lobby, all the way up the elevator, into the reception area of your office. Somewhere along the way, you will probably utter a "No comment" as you grit your teeth and stare straight ahead.

Stop dead in your tracks. "I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work."

Say: "Good morning, Mike. Gee, if you wanta talk to me, come on up and I’ll see when I can squeeze you in today. If you’d called, I woulda been glad to give you an appointment." In this scenario, the reporter will still keep the camera rolling, and fire questions all the way to the office. He is afraid you will renege on the appointment.

Say: "I’ll be very glad to give you an interview, but let’s talk first, off camera. If you’re sincere in wanting to talk to me — in doing a fair, accurate story — and not trying to make me look like some kind of criminal, turn off the camera and come on up. I’ll get us a cup of coffee."

They Win, You Lose

The ambush technique has been used, and abused, throughout the history of investigative reporting on television. Radio and print reporters ambush their targets, too. On radio, we can hear the fear in your voice. We can’t see your terror in those media. The reporters tell us, in their own words, how frightened and guilty you looked, then give us your response.

Reporters know they can usually count on the ambush to make the target of their story look bad. At the same time, they’re carrying out their obligation to get your side of the issue. It’s heads they win, tails you lose.

Some veteran reporters who ambushed their targets for years now question the fairness of the technique. Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes (probably the most-feared reporter in America) says he now uses the ambush technique only if the target refuses to give him an interview.

The audience has become more sophisticated. Part of the rethinking involves not wanting to look like a TV bully picking on a defenseless little guy. The audience believes television has enormous power. If reporters and camera crews abuse that power the audience will side with the target.

They Will Persist

Television is words and pictures — mostly pictures. If they are to write words about you, they must have your picture. Good investigative reporters take great pride in their persistence. If they truly want your picture, they will get it. Unless you lock yourself in your basement for the next year. Even then, there are ways to get to you, or smoke you out. So the only question is, what do you say when they catch up with you?

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The chapter continues with a close examination of the options if you're ambushed; elements of defense if there's any chance you might later file a lawsuit against the news outlet; things to do if your experience tells you a reporter is dishonest, incompetent or biased; and false impressions stage fright, on-camera, may give the audience.

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The Camera Monster

Interestingly, most people are not as afraid of a newspaper reporter with a shorthand pad. The camera is the monster they fear. I believe that fear is badly misplaced.

Newspapers do much more investigative reporting than television. Their investigative teams spend months — sometimes years — on one story. Newspaper investigations are much more tenacious and persistent than those in radio and TV.

The wire services pick up the stories. They go all over the world. Congressional committees and federal prosecutors read them and begin major investigations.

Hidden Cameras

Newspaper reporters usually don’t have a camera in their hands as they conduct the interview. But they have a camera in their heads.

As they sit there, making notes, they’re often not writing what you’re saying. They’re writing what you’re showing. Body English. Eye contact or movement. Fidgets. Sweat. How you reacted to that last question.

They will go back to their newsroom and create a picture of you with words. And that can be more distorted than videotape.

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The chapter continues with techniques for taking more control of the interview; deciding whether to give an interview when you've made a mistake; real-life examples of stories that fizzled, and why, when the target decided to give an interview; how to cope with questions from left field that have no basis in truth or fact, and the following generic checklist (with more detail than shown here) to respond when the media believe you've done something wrong.

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You need to tell the media:

	Your concern about the allegation.
	What you’re going to do about it.
	Details and a general timetable for an investigation.
	Your personal investment in finding the truth.
	A reminder that the allegation may be false.
	That you will disclose the truth when you find it.
	That if the allegations prove to be true, you'll see that justice is done; the guilty prosecuted, any problems corrected.

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