The Media Interview
If only I had a dollar for every professional that said the word \u201coff the record\u201d when being interviewed by a reporter\u2026It doesn\u2019t seem to matter if it\u2019s a large, small, private, or public company they work for \u2013 if they haven\u2019t received some coaching on what \u2018is\u2019 and \u2018is not\u2019 appropriate on a media interview, they bring it up. I hate to tell you but I don\u2019t think \u2018off the record\u2019 info benefits your reputation, your company, or the reporter. The first step is to get some coaching on appropriate protocol when talking with the media. The next step is to work with a media specialist prior to the interview to come up with the best way to communicate the information. I also suggest that you have your media specialists at the interview with you at all times - even if they are just calling in and are silent for the call \u2013 make it a company policy.