111 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
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How To Talk To The Press by Johnny Mnemonic
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Excerpt from Computer underground Digest 4.45 (23-Sep-92)
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((It was rumored that, immediately after his appearance on
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an NBC news show, that John (Cap'n Crunch) Draper was
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released from his job for reasons of fiscal expediency.
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Whether true or not, this seems like a good time to reprint
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Mike Godwin's advice on "How to Talk to the Press" for those
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who are in the rolodexes of media folk)).
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This is a file I posted to an Austin BBS back when I gave the SJG
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story to the local papers.
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104: Talking to Media, part 1
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By: Johnny Mnemonic [54]
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Date: 11:07 3/18/90
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As I've promised on another message base, here's the beginning of
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discussion of how to bring stories to the media.
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Since I keep thinking of different things people ought to know about
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how to take a story to the media, I'm going to make this a multi-post
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discussion.
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1) TRY TO THINK LIKE THE REPORTER YOU'RE TALKING TO.
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One of the things that happens when people know about an event or
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series of events that may make a good news story is that they assume
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the importance of the story will be obvious to anyone.
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Sometimes this is true (when the tipster knows about a murder, for
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example). Often it's not.
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So, when I tell a reporter about a story I think she should want to
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cover, I make sure to stress the aspects of the story that are likely
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to interest that reporter and/or the readers of her publication. For
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example, when I spoke to Kyle Pope about the Illuminati seizure, I
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stressed the following:
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a) Steve Jackson Games is an Austin business that may end up being
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damaged by the seizure.
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b) Nobody has given this story anything like major coverage in the
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national media, or (so far as I knew) in other geographic areas. (I
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was telling him he had a major "scoop" opportunity.)
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c) There are some very dramatic aspects to this story. (I told him
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about the 20-year-old LoD member who woke up on the morning of March 1
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with a gun pointed at him by a Secret Service agent.)
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2) IF YOU'RE GOING TO MEET THE REPORTER IN PERSON, TRY TO BRING
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SOMETHING ON PAPER.
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There are lots of good reasons to follow this rule:
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a) Believe it or not, but people take stuff on paper a little more
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seriously than the spoken word. It's nice to give the reporter
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something that lends substance to what you're saying, even if the
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substance is printouts from your own computer.
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b) It makes life easier for the reporter, who doesn't have to write
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down every single thing you tell her. Reporters like to have materials
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they can use for reference as they research and write their stories.
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c) It helps you remember to say everything you want to say. Nothing is
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more frustrating than trying to get a reporter interested in your
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story, getting inconclusive results, and then realizing later that you
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should have told the reporter about something. (E.g., "Damn! I forgot
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to tell him what 'cyberpunk' means, so he won't know how the federal
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agents misinterpreted the manual.")
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When I went to the Statesman, I took edited printouts of discussions
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from Flight, from SMOF, and from comp.dcom.telecom on Usenet. I also
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took some private Email I had received, with the names of the senders
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deleted. And I took my copy of the WHOLE EARTH REVIEW with the article
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on Usenet. My object was to convey to him the scale of concern about
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the seizures, plus give him enough background to be able to ask
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reasonably informed questions of the people he talked to.
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3) GIVE THE REPORTER OTHER PEOPLE TO TALK TO, IF POSSIBLE.
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Two basic justifications for this rule: First, it'll help your
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credibility (especially if you don't already know the reporter
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personally). Second, multiple sources or witnesses usually enable the
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reporter to filter out what is mere opinion or speculation from what
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everybody actually knows for a fact.
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4) DON'T ASSUME THAT THE REPORTER WILL COVER THE STORY THE WAY YOU'D
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LIKE HER TO.
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Reporters' accuracy and focus in a story are constrained by several
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factors:
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a) The amount of available time. Reporters have to be quick studies,
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and often have to assimilate a complex story in a hurry. This
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necessarily increases the risk of inaccuracy in a story, and gives you
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an even greater reason to follow Rules 1 through 3.
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2) The reporters' obligation to be fair. This means they have to talk
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to people on the other side of the issues from you. This in turn means
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that you're unlikely to get a story that represents or promotes your
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point of view at the expense of those who oppose you.
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<More on this topic as I think of things. Please feel free to comment.>
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------------------------------
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-/Vuarnet International/-
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617/527.oo91
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24oo-16.8k HST/V32bis
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