Edition No. 15

Working with the Press

by Lisa Junker, Senior Manager of Communications

Ten workers at a local chemical manufacturing plant are getting sick from unknown causes, and a reporter is looking for an industrial hygiene expert to offer some insight. A gasoline spill from a tanker truck leaches into a stream in a residential neighborhood, and the local newspaper wants an expert opinion on potential health effects to those living nearby. Mold is found at an elementary school, and a TV reporter is looking to create a “toxic mold” report to perk up station ratings.

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In any of these situations, an industrial hygienist or OEHS professional could be an excellent resource for a reporter. But will that IH provide good information that helps the public, or create false fears? Often, the deciding factor is not the expert’s technical expertise—but his or her media savvy.

Fielding Media Calls

If a reporter calls looking for information, you don’t have to take the call immediately. It’s entirely reasonable—even common—for a potential source to indicate that he or she cannot take the call right away, but will be happy to speak later. Ask the reporter a few questions before hanging up:

What is your story topic?
What sort of angle or approach are you taking to this topic?
What kind of information will you need from me?
What other experts are you speaking to for this story?
What is your deadline?

The last question is vital. Always respect a reporter’s deadlines. Broadcast reporters often will have same-day deadlines for a story. Print reporters’ deadlines can be anywhere from hours to weeks away, depending on the nature of their story and the frequency of their publication.

Once you hang up the phone, take some time to collect your thoughts, determine the key messages or information you wish to get across to the reporter and collect any resources you might need to refer to during the interview. You may wish to spend a few moments on the Internet researching the publication, the reporter or the story topic (news.google.com is particularly helpful).

The Interview

During the interview, always assume the audience is ignorant of your topic. Explain your points in a layperson’s terms—don’t use industry jargon or acronyms.

Don’t feel that you must answer every question. Some questions will simply be meaningless; others will veer into areas where you don’t have expertise or don’t wish to comment. In such situations, media trainers recommend “bridging” back to the key messages you developed prior to the interview. “Bridging” is relatively simple; just acknowledge the reporter’s question and return to what you want to say. “That’s an interesting question, Sue, but I think the issue of worker health and safety is far more important …” This may feel strange at first, but remember that a media interview follows different rules than a normal conversation. Your goal is to get certain information out to the public, and the more often you repeat your key messages, the more likely the reporter is to use them in the final story.

Build Your Career

Providing a reporter with good, scientific information clearly benefits both the public and the profession. But it can also benefit you personally, by raising your profile as an industrial hygiene expert (and pleasing your company’s management with the positive media attention). A good interview can also be a step toward building a long-term relationship with a reporter and educating him or her about the importance of occupational health and safety and the value of the industrial hygiene profession.

AIHA actively maintains a list of members interested in serving as expert sources for the media. When reporters call AIHA, this list helps us to respond quickly and effectively. If you are interested in being a part of this list, or participating in other activities intended to promote industrial hygiene and occupational health and safety to news reporters, please contact AIHA’s PR department at (703) 849-8888. Your assistance is very valuable to AIHA’s media relations efforts.

Want to Learn More?

This article has only covered a few tips for working productively with reporters. Further media training opportunities are available to AIHA members through AIHA’s public relations program. Special in-person media training is planned for the 2006 Leadership Workshop and AIHce 2006.

"Working with the Press," written by Lisa Junker, is reprinted with permission from The Synergist, a publication of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and was originally published in September 2005. For reprints of this and other articles, or to learn more about AIHA, go to http://www.aiha.org.