#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – five tips for TV interviews
Ragan’s PR Daily has five tips for TV journalists from former NBC News producer Christina Mozaffari.
One of these is advice for interview questions. She says:
Repeat the question back.
If yours is a sound bites interview – meaning the interview is not live and the reporter will use only a part of what you say in his or her story – repeat the question back in your answer. This gives the reporter a complete sound bite on tape and ensures that the answers you give are usable.
For example, if a reporter asks a question like, “Why did you decide to go with Plan A instead of Plan B?” you would say, “We decided to go with Plan A because…”
Doing so increases the chances of getting your complete, concise message into the story. But one huge caveat: Do not repeat negative language. If the reporter asks you a loaded question or a question that insinuates your organisation has done something wrong, you do not want yourself repeating that idea back to him or her on tape.
If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.
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