Media training - Assumption is dangerous

By Jennigay Coetzer

The saying “To assume makes an ass out of you and me.” is particularly apt when being interviewed by a journalist or any other media interviewer. Inexperienced spokespeople do this all the time, as I have found during the media training workshops and coaching sessions I run.

Human beings in general are in the habit of assuming those they communicate with are completely on their wavelength, and as a result tend to leave gaps in the information they are imparting. When we are on the receiving end of this, we mentally fill in the blanks in the fragmented information that would otherwise confuse us, based on our own assumptions, because our brains are designed to do this.

In other words, everyone puts their own interpretation on what is being said to them, depending on social and work experience, cultural background, religion, and so on.

With a media interview this could lead to incorrect information being published in an article or, in the case of radio and TV, giving the wrong impression to listeners and viewers or just confusing them. For example, during their mock interview sessions at the media training workshops and coaching sessions I run the spokespeople attending will often refer to “they” without specifying who they are referring to.

On receiving this information, the journalist or the live audience mentally links “they” with a recent reference the spokesperson has made, perhaps to a company or person they have mentioned. Meanwhile, the spokesperson is talking about another entity he thinks he has already named, but has only done so in his mind, without saying it out loud.

This can result in comments being misinterpreted, and is why spokespeople are often heard to say indignantly after reading an article in which they have been quoted: “My comments were taken out of context!”

This is why media training is so important for those who are committed to becoming good spokespeople. Even those who have had previous experience in this area, but no official training will benefit from honing their media interview techniques.

Leaving information out of press releases that are distributed to the media or posted on websites that the spokesperson has assumed the reader will know is equally risky. Apart from being confusing, it could result in journalists and editors that are on the receiving end making their own incorrect assumptions or speculating to fill in the gaps, especially if the spokesperson quoted in the press release is not available for comment.

This is one of the reasons why press releases should be read through objectively - through the eyes of the reader - before sending them out or posting them on a website.

The above article is an excerpt from a new book, The Media Spokesperson’s Handbook, by business and technology journalist Jennigay Coetzer, who also does media training, and runs article writing workshops. The book is expected to be published shortly.

Jennigay Coetzer’s first book, A Perfect Press Release - or Not?, a guideline to writing press releases is available from her website: www.jennigay.co.za.

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