Risking,Newsmagazine,Interview communication Risking A Newsmagazine Interview

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That said, are there "bad news" situations when it's worth voluntarilyrisking an appearance on such a show? When even the best media trainingis often not enough to keep the piranhas at bay?I invite my readers to submit stories of their experienceswith such programs, including lessons learned. The following is a casehistory of a time when I not only voluntarily cooperated -- *I* was theinterview subject, and survived. It was a very personal kind of crisismanagement and, hence, I'm temporarily switching to a first-person,versus third-person narrative.[Initial Situation]The son of a wealthy West Coast family, a college freshman, waskidnapped by persons unknown. There had been a high-figure ransomdemand. The father's corporate attorneys asked me to help keep themedia at bay if and when the news leaked, as it inevitably would.[Pre-Rescue Crisis Management]We had no idea if the son, Ryan, was going to be found alive or not. My initial work included:* Meeting with the family to ascertain their wishes. They weresophisticated enough to understand the need to say something, once thenews was out, but very much wanted to avoid direct media contact byfamily members. Solution: I became the spokesperson, a "friend of thefamily."* Drafting statements ready for use during the transitionperiod when Ryan's status was unknown, and others for when he was foundalive...or injured...or dead.* Advising the family and a hired security firm how to avoidsnooping journalists [Editor's Note: If you'd like to read more aboutthat topic in a future issue, let me know].* Participating in at-least-daily conference calls involving Ryan's mother and/or father, attorneys and law enforcement reps.[The Rescue!]Fortunately, particularly for Ryan and his family, secrecy wasmaintained until -- by dint of much clever law enforcement work andeven telephone deception by Ryan's mother, who lulled the kidnappersinto a sense of false confidence -- Ryan was rescued in a police raidand his kidnappers captured after a two-week ordeal which included:* Being shut in a coffin-like box for the first several days after he was abducted.* Sexual molestation.* Threats of death.News of the raid and details of the kidnapping ordeal leaked tothe press and I appeared at a police-managed press conferencedelivering messages on behalf of the family. Within a day, a prominentTV tabloid newsmagazine contacted me, said they were going to do a"re-enactment" of the kidnapping as their feature coverage, and askedif Ryan or another family member would take part in an interview.Concurrently, an attorney for the kidnappers attempted a nasty strategy-- he held a news conference in which he inferred that Ryan had beenpart of his own kidnapping, as "proved" by the fact that, after beingreleased from the box, he had only been handcuffed and could havewalked away from the private home (not that far from his own!) where hewas being kept captive.[Re-directing the News]I met with the family and attorneys and told them that, if wedidn't respond to the tabloid show, they could portray Ryan as culpableto some degree -- which was not only damaging personally, but couldactually influence a jury pool, which no doubt was the intent of thekidnappers' attorney. By now, I truly FELT like a "friend of thefamily" and was incredibly relieved that Ryan was safe physically,although he would need counseling for some time thereafter.I offered to narrate the re-enactment for the show, providingdetails we had not discussed at the first news conference but whichwould not prejudice the legal case. We would insist on the right toedit whatever portion of my interview was chosen for use, althoughthere remained a significant risk that other parts of the story couldmake my interview look bad. They agreed (and I swallowed hard).I submitted to an interview which drew out the story of thekidnapping as I had developed it during hours of conversation with Ryanand law enforcement officials, trying to make it a compellingnarrative. I talked about how threats of death had paralyzed Ryan andmade him afraid to do anything which his kidnappers hadn't expresslysaid was OK. Such programs thrive on high drama, so I "played it up."All the media training I have taken and given over the years wasemployed to keep pre-agreed key messages flowing in response to anyquestion I was asked.[The Show Airs]It worked. The narrative was strong enough that my interviewwas used as the "voiceover" for the re-enactment, cutting back andforth from shots of the interviewer and I to re-enactment scenes. Thedefendant's attorney was interviewed and made his insinuations, butthey were given much lower visibility and story placement, sandwichedbetween my interview and televised police statements from the originalpress conference which clearly painted a picture of Ryan as victim.[Would I Do It Again?]It was a risk, a major risk, taken because the alternative waseven less acceptable to my client, the family. As a rule, if there isANY way to avoid having one of my clients participate in a newsmagazineshow, tabloid or not, I will seek that way. One effective tactic --provide information which turns the story from interesting to boring.Another -- give them a better story. And anyone who agrees to beinterviewed must have taken RIGOROUS media training, and the mediatrainer, legal counsel and others on the "client side" must agree thatthe interviewee is ready to appear on camera, no matter what is asked. Article Tags: Media Training