January 2025 On You and Journalists

It’s getting to be the time of year when some of you are looking forward to having some interviews in advance of or in connection with an industry trade show that Christian media will attend.

There are two such events coming up in February.

So, it seemed like a good time to talk for a couple of weeks about working with journalists.

Most of what I’m talking about today is more about regular interviews rather than ones in a trade show setting, but some elements still apply as we focus on what their job is like and how you fit in. Plus, sometimes instead of interviewing you at a trade show, you may do the interview before or after it.

Here are some suggestions.

If you are a first-time author, and not someone who has had experience being interviewed by the news media in prior endeavors, no one should expect you to know all the ins and outs of the etiquette and procedure involved.

One important thing I like to stress:

You aren’t equals. At least, your schedule and time and theirs are not equal.

One client who was new to being interviewed was delighted to hear that we had several inquiries about interviewing him as a result of the news release we issued. “Oh, he said, “let me check my calendar and give you some dates when I’m available.”

That was of course helpful, but less so than you might think.

“Oh no,” I quickly replied. “It doesn’t work that way–the media outlet will come back to us and tell us when they want to interview you and at that point we’ll need your calendar.”

Christian journalists are fellow believers, which usually means they are going to be nicer to you than other journalists might be and more willing to work with you on scheduling.

But typically, you are waiting for them to fit you into their schedule, not the other way around.

Different people work different ways. Some of them will contact me and say, “when is she available?” and start from there.

More typical is a request to do an interview at a specific time and date. The majority of the time this will be a phone or perhaps zoom interview, no need to travel anywhere. You will just need a super quiet place (the inside of a car works well in a pinch).

When you get an invitation to an interview, it’ll likely come by email or text.

Often you aren’t communicating with the host of the show, but rather with their producer or someone else on the staff.

Here are some things I’d recommend you do:

– Respond as quickly as possible.
–But if you aren’t familiar with their show or news outlet, research it before you respond. Or if they call you unexpectedly, you may be able to even do it while on the phone call inviting you to interview.
– Clear your calendar to make the interview time work if you can.
– If you must suggest another time, make sure it’s a time and date you can keep.
– Don’t crowd the interview time too close to a previous engagement as you never want to risk being late.
– Find out if the interview is live or taped

–Listen and take notes about what they tell you about the interview. Some journalists will say more than others, but it would be typical for them to at least tell you how long the segment will be. They should also make clear who will call you, and exactly what time (often a few minutes before the interview time) or if they need you to call in somewhere or show up via Zoom link. They may also tell you if there’s a specific topic they want to develop, and possibly how many minutes they will do per segment. Pay attention and don’t make them repeat those facts, though it’s fine for you to repeat them back to make sure you have them correct.

NOTE: If they don’t tell you, be sure you ask them how long the interview is, and know approximately when they will call you and/or be sending the zoom link.

A bit more on these points.

If you are totally not available at the time they request – say you have a day job and can only do interviews during your lunch hour or after work – they will try to find another time. Or if you already have a doctor’s appointment or a child’s program at school, they will generally try to find a time that works, but sometimes they say, sorry, I can only take someone who is available on that day and time.

So do your best to be available. If you have lunch with a friend scheduled during that time, it would be my suggestion to change the lunch date.

And you don’t ever want to blow off a journalist and not show up or not take a phone call when you said you could. People remember – and they share stories with each other.

Some factors in this you might not realize.

As technology changes some of this is easing, but if you are working with a traditional radio station, the journalist may only have the studio at certain times and days to do their show. If they have an hour window, they are likely stacking multiple interviews within that timeframe. So, if you run 10 minutes late, you run the risk of forfeiting your chance to be interviewed at that time. [Or ever.]

You also just wasted a half hour of studio time the journalist jealously guards.

And then there’s live vs taped. Most of the time interviews will be taped. And most of the time if it’s live, they will stress that to you, or if you are working with a publicist, the publicist will. I always write LIVE in all caps in an email informing an author of an interview for a live show.

Because imagine what happens if you fail to show up for a live interview when you were the 12-minute segment the show had planned.

However, as I mentioned, most interviews are taped for later broadcast.

What does that mean to you?

When someone tapes an interview with you, it’s going to take a while before the interview airs, and the link is available. First of all, they have to edit the interview, clean it up a bit and sometimes correct the number of minutes long it is for the one or more outlets where it will play.

Then they will schedule it to be aired on their show and sometimes in various markets. Then and only then after it has aired to the public will the link be available to you and me.

And that’s another thing. If you are working with a publicist, the media outlet will communicate with the publicist, not you. This is professional etiquette and considered quite desirable by both the journalist and the publicist.

Typically, a publicist has a little better idea of the ins and outs of how the media world works and how in fact
a particular journalist may wish to be communicated and dealt with. They will not communicate directly with you generally and they will not want you to have their personal contact information.

If, of course, on the other hand you are doing this coordination for yourself then you play both roles –both of the publicist and the author guest.

By the way, if you are at an in-person, multi-day event, and chatting with a journalist about finding a time to do an interview, some of these tips don’t apply or at least not the same way. They will understand if you have interviews already lined up. In fact, having a totally clear calendar in that context is not good – you want to be seen to have others also interested in interviewing you. You still need to be very clear about the details, in this case the where as well as the when of the interview, and find out if it’s video or audio-only. In that setting, be sure to know how to contact the journalist or someone on their team in case of emergency and you are stuck in an elevator or have a flat tire.

There’s more to come on this topic and understanding some of the ins and outs of the media interview world.

But enjoy it! Whether in person or via email and phone, be respectful of a journalist’s time and savor the privilege of being part of the world where news stories are created and shared, and getting to share yours.