Press Interview Fundamentals Press_Interview_Fund - digital | Page 19

Press Interview Fundamentals
Effective Press Interviews
Understanding / Misunderstanding Journalists
• Thinking journalists focus on what’s important
• Thinking journalists’ first amendment role places some type of respon-
sibility upon them
• Thinking that journalists’ core values-- fairness, accuracy and bal-
ance—mean the same thing as when a non- journalist uses them.
• Journalist are in the business of telling stories people want to read or
watch
• Given a choice between the important and the interesting, journalists
will choose interesting every time for example:
- - More reporters gathered in front of the NY Federal Courthouse
for Martha Stewart’s trial than for any prior event, including World
Trade Center bombing verdicts
- - There were five times as many journalists covering the verdict at the
Michael Jackson trial than were accredited to the war in Iraq.
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