Dealing with the media: Tips and tricks.
Hey!
So, i have been approached by a reporter from a prominent Western Australian news paper, and asked to be involved in an article on Dh skateboarding. I have made it very clear that:
1. I want to know what the 'angle' of the story is.
2. I want a transcript of questions before the interview.
3. And probably most importantly, i want copy approval.
4.?
So does anybody out there who has experience/ had dealings with the media have any pointers to give me?
I figured this would be an interesting discussion, and probably a good resource for people to look over in future, WHAT ARE YOUR TWO CENTS!
Views: 75
Replies to This Discussion
-
Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Owen on -
Get it all in writing then when they go back on it sue the shot out of them.
-
Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on -
Trust no one. Getting a transcript of the questions they are going to ask is a really good idea. Think about how you will answer and word each question/answer. The thing with newspapers is that they can write what they want and you can't really prove that they have mis-quoted you, unlike tv and radio.
If you don't like a question, don't answer it. Easier with the news paper to do this. It can look quite bad on television.
-
Permalink Reply by Steven Rose on
-
Simply get someone to video tape the interview, get something typed out saying "I _______, have done this interview on the agreement by the parties doing the interview that what I say will not be used to incriminate me or associated parties in any way, and only to provide general information about our sport etc" . I think that way if they fuck you over you have double proof they broke your agreement and you can fuck them sideways and take legal action.
-
Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Bruiser on -
IMG, Lots of good advice coming forth. The questions you have asked make very good sense. The answers to which will give you an idea of whether to proceed or throw it to ASRA or just let it slide. What is the angle - human interest would be great, will it be about skaters portrayed as socially inept dangerous road hooligans, or some other sketchy angle. Having a transcript of questions is sensible; copy approval, they won't give it but you can try. One thing to outline is that there is always ASRA if they want any direct quotes, statistics or if there are any sticky questions. I would think that because of the rise of the sport it would be a human interest story?? but that remains to be seen.
Newspaper media are far better than TV media. I worked with a nutbag who took video of himself driving through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel at 200kmh, in a worked J Ported 13B Mazda RX3, when the tunnel first opened. The footage got out, a 'friend' of his sent it to Today Tonight with Stan Grant - and the media wanted to talk to him. He was interviewed on Today Tonight and they absolutely nailed him. They fed him questions he could not give straight or proper answers for and he looked like the most dangerous guy to have ever hit the streets. As a result he lost his licence for years, heavy fines and looked like the self appointed representative of the Fast Fours and Rotaries magazine. You sound like you are on track to decide if this is something that is good for the sport. Only advice I can give is 'If in doubt, don't'.
-
ASRA AdminPermalink Reply by Bugs on -
1. Figure out what you want to say. In detail.
2. When they ask questions, listen for any hooks on which you can hang the stuff you want to say from step 1. Don't worry about answering the question - just apply your stuff from step 1 as appropriately as you can. You have to be a bit brazen to ignore the question, but politicians do it every interview. Get somebody to pretend to be a nasty journalist asking nasty questions, and practice saying your stuff in response - if your answer is more than a few words the listener will have forgotten the question by the time you get to the end of your answer.
Good luck.
-
Permalink Reply by Mike River on
-
my advice for dealing with the media- dont deal with em. It doesnt matter what you say, they will manipulate what ever they get out of you to fit what ever the flavour of the moment is when they have to submit the footage for air/ article for print what ever.
If we as a collective of skateboarders want to keep on bombing hills, and practicing speedboarding in its many beautifull forms, then the best thing to do is avoid all media contact. the quicker and more effectively we get forgotten and become invisible the better. Not so long ago, no one knew what the hell speedboarding was, and there were never the problems we have now. Lets return to that invisibility, let the media chase some other sub group of sub culture for thrills.
-
-
I'm actually with mike on this...!
-
-
It is important for us to he accepted and not to be frowned upon, but just remember about how the media has portrayed us in the past
-
ASRA AdminPermalink Reply by bernie on -
Ian,
This thread might help
http://www.skateboardracing.org.au/forum/topics/kochie-doesnt-like-...
Remember to do a Gillard and "stay on message" specially for every tricky question.
eg:
Journo... "do you consider what you are doing to be dangerous"
Rider...."we take safety seriously and our actions do not put anyone in any more danger than any of the thousands of push bike riders that use the roads"
Journo... "but surely you must accept that your actions put other road users at risk"
Rider...."we take safety seriously and our actions do not put anyone in any more danger than any of the thousands of push bike riders that use the same road, do you see any problem with cyclists?"
Keep banging on about the taking safety seriously and you are less likely to give them anything other than your "message".
Keep the message simple.
-
Permalink Reply by Scotty Bomber on
-
I agree with Mike. I understand your intention is to improve the profile of the sport but who's the audience? Those empowered to make decisions that
can improve the sport? Or a conservative audience that read a newspaper which is designed to confirm and support their point of view?
But, if you don't do the interview, who will? A weak grom who gets eaten alive?
Maybe get the questions then pull out, recommending that an ASRA rep do the interview. Hopefully the reporter will lose interest and target another topic.
-
Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on -
With 300 people (mostly kids and teens) riding the public roads of Adelaide, the sport will never be invisible again. There used to be 10 of us here in Adelaide. It was easy to lay low. Not anymore, those days have long gone.
Mike River said:
my advice for dealing with the media- dont deal with em. It doesnt matter what you say, they will manipulate what ever they get out of you to fit what ever the flavour of the moment is when they have to submit the footage for air/ article for print what ever.
If we as a collective of skateboarders want to keep on bombing hills, and practicing speedboarding in its many beautifull forms, then the best thing to do is avoid all media contact. the quicker and more effectively we get forgotten and become invisible the better. Not so long ago, no one knew what the hell speedboarding was, and there were never the problems we have now. Lets return to that invisibility, let the media chase some other sub group of sub culture for thrills.
-
-
Problem- overpopulation.
Solution???
The Catch 22 of speedboarding. Yes its great to have more people to do it with. But with more people comes more problems from the law, other road users, authorities etc. Keep the numbers down, and its possible to go un noticed, but then you dont have lots of people to skate with. (and of course the skate companies and retailers dont benefit from the rising sales)
Which is better? large longboarding scene, or being able to skate with no hassle?
Lets not pretend that speedboarding is not skateboarding. and every seasoned skateboarder knows, that no matter what. You just keep skating. Skateboarding can adapt to any situation. Stay away from the media, pretend you dont exist. Once enough kids on mini scooters have broken enough bones, mini scooters will be the next media bitch. Or maybe the spate of spinal complaints in 15 years time will cause the media to denounce Heeleys as a childrens toy due to the intereference with posture while growing.
Speedboarding is not a sport. Its skateboarding. I wish people would stop calling it a sport. We should stop trying to glorify it and assure ourselves that its not fucking dangerous, when it is. its not a casual sunday morning type of thing that mums and dads can take their kids to and hope they get good enough to make the team. No. its a wing of skateboarding much like vert. Hardly anyone does it. With dam good reason!
You cant get the public to accept skateboarding, non skaters are simply incapable of seeing the world through the eyes of a skateboarder. This is fine. We dont all need to have the same views. Personally I think there are certain groups of people on this planet that do certain things that I think is bloody dangerous, menace to society, waste of time, and all that. But no one is gonna listen to my moaning, and why should they? its just my opnion based on my subjective experience of this reality.
It is a complete waste of energy fretting over the public veiw of skateboarding, the media treatment of it, the legal status of it etc etc. Why? becuase we are just gonna go skateboarding anyway! Good luck to the OP what ever path you choose regarding your media engagement. May you all skate fast and safe and may your roads be long and windy!
© 2024 Created by Bugs.
Powered by
