Table 3.
What to Do When a Reporter Calls
| When a reporter calls, have your media liaison ask for the following information. Answers to these questions will help you decide whether you want to do the interview. |
| • What is your deadline? |
| • How much time do you need with the doctor? |
| • Tell me what this interview is for—which publication, broadcast show, online news site, etc. Tell me how many potential readers, viewers it has. Who is the audience—physicians or lay public? |
| • Can you give me a general idea of what topics the interview will cover? |
| • Who else is being interviewed for this story? Reporters may volunteer this information, or may choose not to divulge their other sources. |
| Tell your media liaison to provide you with the information above quickly, so you can provide times that you're available for an interview. Returning reporters' calls late is the best guarantee that you won't be interviewed. |
| Determine who will call the reporter back to confirm a time for the interview. Be clear on who's calling whom if it's a telephone interview, and confirm the phone number. Give the reporter a name and number to call in case they have to reschedule the interview. |
| Ask your media liaison to make a practice of contacting your institution's public affairs office once an interview is scheduled. Time is of the essence, as reporters usually need an interview in the next day or two, and institutional clearance can take that long. It's in your best interest to notify Public Affairs as soon as possible because they can tip you to potentially sensitive topics for the institution that could come up during an interview. Give the public affairs specialist all the information you have gathered, including the reporter's name and phone number. If the interview will take place on campus, the Public Affairs office may arrange for the reporter's security clearance, convenient parking, and an escort to your office. Contact your institution's public relations office to learn its protocol. NOTE: This procedure changes slightly if the request is from a local or national TV reporter. Their requests are generally more complicated; they usually want us to identify a patient to be interviewed or arrange a procedure to be videotaped. When you get a TV request, you may want to discuss the story with the reporter yourself, and ask the institution's public relations office to get involved. |