Convincing an Expert to Engage Reporters after a ‘Bad Experience’

Even subject-matter experts who recognize the value of being quoted in news articles can become hesitant to schedule an interview after a bad experience.

When an article, in the SME’s opinion, doesn’t accurately convey their thoughts, they will be worried that the story harms their reputation with clients and prospects. That can reduce, or even end, their willingness to invest their time in media relations.

For a media relations professional, a media interaction gone wrong creates two problems – the immediate issue with the story and the medium- or long-term reluctance of your SME to do interviews.

The short-term problem usually can’t be truly solved. Prevention is much more effective than post-publication cures. While outright factual errors can lead to a correction – and in online stories, the damage is significantly reduced – in most cases, the subject-matter expert’s misgivings about an article can’t be fixed.

Like a good crisis communicator, focus on what you are doing going forward to minimize the chances of these situations occurring in the first place. Handled well, these experiences often lead the SME to a deeper understanding of media interview skills that mitigate the risks and keep your media relations program humming.

Here are five tough interview experiences for a subject-matter expert and how to avoid those outcomes – at least, the next time.

“The reporter got it wrong.” Leave aside simple factual mistakes. Here, we are focused on misunderstandings or misinterpretations of what the SME said.

Often, this comes down to the prep for the interview. Your job is to do everything you can to ensure the reporter and your SME are on the same page at the start of the interview. After reviewing the reporter’s previous work on the topic, make sure your subject-matter expert is approaching the topic from the same perspective as the reporter. A good example from the healthcare world is the phrase “controlling costs” – but whose costs? The patient’s? The provider organization’s? The insurer’s?

Sending relevant content to the reporter before and/or after the interview also helps paint a fuller picture of the SME’s perspective that will avoid misinterpretations.

This also is a good reason for you to join the call between the reporter and the subject-matter expert. You can listen intently to both parties without your mind wandering to what you’re going to say next, so you are better positioned to detect that the reporter and SME are not on the same page.

“I didn’t like the way the reporter described our company/what we do/what I do.” This understandably rankles. Your firm and your subject-matter expert have spent a lot of time thinking about how they are positioned to appeal to the right prospects.

You have done that, right? If not, start there. Assuming you’ve done that important work, a reminder to the SME about her elevator speech – here’s what our firm does, and here’s the part that I do – before the interview should help. It should be a tip in media training. And echo that language in your emails with the reporter.

“Well, the reporter sure took that story in a different direction.” This most often occurs when the reporter’s story idea is very broad. Stories analyzing breaking news usually have a clear direction and a tight turnaround time. Stories the reporter is working on over a longer period to produce a longer-form piece are much more likely to take unforeseen twists and turns before they are finished.

You can ask the reporter questions to evaluate how much the story is likely to change over time. Besides the usual questions about deadline and the type of piece (feature, news analysis, straight news), some examples include:

• How long have you been reporting this article?
• Have you learned anything in your reporting that has changed your thinking?
• What has surprised you so far?

Then, set the right expectations with the subject-matter expert when presenting the interview opportunity: “The reporter is pretty early in his examination of this subject. He wants to speak to you about the general landscape in your area of expertise. It’s hard to predict the direction this ultimately will take. Keep that in mind as you answer questions.”

“We talked for 20 minutes and all she used was two sentences/I didn’t make the cut!” Tread lightly here – you may be dealing with a bruised ego, not just a SME who feels his time was wasted. If it’s just a brief mention, point out that even a short mention serves the purpose of heightening awareness of the expert and the firm. Even if there’s no link to the expert’s bio, check the web stats for the bio page on the day of publication and over the next few days – if there is an increase in page views, it’s likely because of the mention.

Review the story closely with the expert. Were similar experts quoted? What was it about their quotes that seemed to connect with the reporter? Was the reporter perhaps looking for a certain viewpoint that fit her story and your expert offered a more nuanced view that didn’t fit? Did another expert have a similar take but delivered it better in layperson’s language with a pithy quote? Use it as a teaching opportunity.

“The reporter quoted my competitors!!!!” It can be frustrating for subject-matter experts to see their competitors in the same story. A SME seeing their quotes next to quotes from someone the expert disdains can ruin the experience.

This one is all about setting expectations. If you are presenting an opportunity for a healthcare-focused architect to interview for a story about how interior designs are changing to meet the transformation of care delivery, you should expect that many architects and designers will be interviewed for that story. Say that upfront.

After the article comes out, evaluate the standing of these experts in the view of a layperson or a generalist in the industry the expert works in. While the SME may have valid criticisms of a competing expert, to reporters, this individual may have the credentials to make including her views seem rational.

Depending on your firm’s standing in its industry and your expert’s stage in her career, you may even be able to show that it’s a sign of how far the firm and the expert have come to be put on the same level as these other experts.

Setting the right expectations and using each media interview as a learning opportunity for your subject-matter experts will keep your experts excited to participate.

What are some bad experiences that your subject-matter experts have had with media interviews? How did you handle those situations? Please share your experiences in the comments.

Image by Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay