What really worries a lot of business leaders about dealing with the media is the fact that they cannot really control what journalists write – the fear of being misrepresented, therefore, makes media interviews too risky in their view. It is true that journalists can and do get things wrong, though not usually through malign intent. It’s also worth pointing out that reporters may speak to several sources, and get alternative views of events, which may differ from your own. So ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ – minor errors may seem important to you but will usually go unnoticed by most readers, and are unlikely to sway their opinion of your organisation, so long as the general gist is fair and accurate. If there are serious factual errors you should take this up with the publication for correction.
Taken from The M-factor: media confidence for business leaders and managers, by Tom Maddocks
