Questions to ask a reporter

published 2003

How you handle a reporter who contacts you for a story can have a major impact on the outcome.

Most important is that you don’t simply adopt a passive approach and seek to diligently answer all the questions the reporter has for you.

It pays to engage in dialogue and ask a few key questions such as:

1. Who are you?

   Find out exactly who the reporter is, whether they regularly cover this topic or this is just a one-off assignment, and how much knowledge they have on the subject.

2. What has prompted you to ring me?

   Why is the reporter calling you? How has the story arisen?

3. What is the story about?

   What ‘angle’ is the reporter pursuing? What approach is the reporter hoping to take.

4. What other sources/people are you contacting?

   Find out who else the reporter is seeking comment from. It will tell you a lot about the story approach as well as guide you as to how you can fit in. And try and find out whether you are the first person the reporter has spoken to or one of many.

5. What is your deadline?

   This is vital. It tells you whether you need to answer right now or you can buy some time and get back later with a more considered answer.

6. What background information can I provide?

The key assessment you need to make during this process is whether you are just a ‘bit player’ as part of a ‘round up’ story asking a range of people for reactions. In this case you will get a minor quote or a sentence. Your likely response should be to simply answer the questions being very mindful of 4.) - how you fit with others likely to be quoted.

If however there is the potential for you to be a key component in the story then it’s important that you quickly establish a rapport with the reporter, especially if you are the first he/she has spoken to. Often the first source or person spoken to provides the basis and focus for the story and the reporter uses this as the lead and then simply has others commenting or reacting.

Note: The author of this article is a Sydney based senior independent corporate PR consultant who works exclusively with PR Managers helping them with management of the PR Department or their relationship with their PR agency. In addition he provides specialist corporate PR and communications advice where issues or change are impacting on an organisation. He also blogs regularly on PR and communications topics similar to those in this article.