How to get quoted: 10 media interview strategies

Anticipate, prepare, clarify, and practice. If you do those things and a few others, you’ll give reporters a reason to use what you have to say—and use it correctly.

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Have you been misquoted? Not quoted? Taken out of context? Or frustrated because a reporter didn’t do his or her research before speaking with you? The nature of media interviews is changing, and PR strategies must change with it.

First, consider how reporters’ jobs have changed. I’ve seen reporters posting up to 10 articles each day. Why? There are fewer of them; according to The Wall Street Journal, for every journalist there are 4.6 PR people. The news cycle can be mere seconds long, and it goes all day and all night. So reporters are under the gun. Being first is important, so comprehensiveness and accuracy can sometimes take second chair to speed. (It’s become a common practice for reporters to update and correct their stories after they go live.)

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