When I speak to the media at an incident scene I have learned to push home my key points by being overly repetitive to a reporter’s questions. I learned this technique several years ago at Connections Day, a conference run every year by the Fair Media Council on Long Island, from a utility company public affairs executive I was having lunch with.
He told me that a spokesperson can reasonably expect an on scene broadcast media interview to last around seven minutes. An interview with a newspaper reporter back at the office lasts a little longer, about thirteen minutes, since that medium allows for deeper analysis and probing.
The seven-minute broadcast interview is typically truncated to a seven-second sound bite of the spokesperson’s main position within the report. The thirteen-minute print interview? A spokesperson is lucky if one attributed quote is more than thirteen words. The rest of the media story is typically filled with “texture” to round out the subject: an opposing point of view, “person-at-the-scene” reactions, related data and facts, etc.
So in summary, his theory was: five minutes down to seven seconds; ten minutes down to thirteen words. If you accept the averages, than you must also accept the value of repeating your key points during those interviews.
Repetition provides the best chance of inserting your key point-of-view, or report of the facts into these media stories. Languishing on less-essential information reduces the chance of your key information being reported.
Here is a great YouTube video about a BBC satirists take on how a TV news report is framed out. A quick caution though. Even though it was broadcast on the BBC, it still contains a pretty potent cuss word.
Also on The Fire PIO…
- Looks like we are getting some Respect – December 7, 2010
- Even the Walls have Ears – November 24, 2010
- How do I Address a Judge? – November 18, 2010
- A PIO Social Media Christmas – December 22, 2010
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