Avoid Embarrassing Silences

A news conference may be jeopardized if no reporter is willing to as the opening question, or if the press—through ignorance or laziness-fails to explore all of the available topics. Some organizations routinely' seat one or two members of their own public relations staff or the editor of the organization's magazine with the working press to raise additional questions at the appropriate time, and generally to "keep the ball rolling." Of course, such a maneuver must be handled in a way that is perceived as helpful by the news media, not as a heavy-handed job of "shilling." It probably is better to prepare your speaker to raise and answer his or her own questions if the press is remiss.

If your organization provides a spokesperson who is not adequately prepared, or who does not know how to handle questions from the press, the conference quickly falls apart. Until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission appointed a qualified "point man" to brief reporters covering the Three Mile Island incident, the press complained of "conflicting and contradictory statements" about the nuclear emergency and the result was confusing and incomplete news coverage.

You must be prepared, too, for reporters who refuse to attend a press conference because, in the words of one journalism news-writing textbook, they "dislike working with precisely the same clay their competitors are using." Some print reporters flatly refuse to raise questions while television cameras are running, saying, "Why should I let my questions get answered on TV before I can put them in print?" If coverage by the reporters who complain is important to you, be prepared to make special arrangements so that they can interview your speaker or obtain the information in another manner.