Dealing with journalists is a fundamental and difficult topic. To be prepared, it is very useful to know how journalists work, what they love and what they hate. Here you will find schedule and what you should consider respectively what you should not do.
What journalists love
- Conflict and drama
- Exclusive stories (investigative journalism)
- Scapegoats and heroes
- „David against Goliath“
What journalists hate
- Abuse of journalists (publicly)
- Applying pressure on chief editor/owner
- Taking journalists to court (counter statement, provisional injunction)
Don’t’s – What you should not do
- Get angry
- Fight with a journalist
- Lie or twist the truth
- Decline to answer questions
- Speculate in public about unknown facts
- Answer negative questions with negative answers
You do not always have to tell the public everything, but what you tell has to be the truth!
Source: gaisberg communications
