Why you didn’t get that media interview

Why you didn’t get that media interview…

English: Werner Erb is interviewed Deutsch: We...

English: Werner Erb is interviewed Deutsch: Werner Erb wird interviewt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A lot of people are using different services to respond to a media interview opportunity and then stop after a while. They stop because they are not getting anywhere.

If you have had that experience this year, let me share from the media side what is missing.

1)   Media will usually set up some initial contact with the prospective person to ‘see” how it will be to work with the person. Are they experienced? Are they such newbies that an interview will basically be worthless? The biggest question of all is – Am I wasting my time with this person?

2)   You answer my question with a yes when you do the following:

a)    Tell me you will be on a cell phone and in the mountains or at the beach and don’t know what the reception is going to be like. Translation: I don’t really care about talking to you or this interview is not even remotely interested in making this turn out well for you.

b)   You tell me you don’t have any idea who I am, even though you were provided with the website links to find out. Translation: I don’t care if I am a match or not for your audience. I am not interested in being a good fit for your audience.

c)    You tell me you have never seen the show before, even though you were provided with a link to check at least one out. Translation: See B above

d)   You tell me you are not the expert on this. Translation: I have no confidence in what I am about to tell you, I just hope I get into media somewhere or I really don’t know what I am talking about.

e)    You tell me your availability is severely limited, like 10 minutes at 2 am on Sunday morning. Translation: See A above

f)     You don’t hear from me and send my a passive-aggressive note about being polite and responding: Translation: I don’t understand that instead of telling people they have been rejected and starting a long email conversation about why, it’s’ easier for media to NOT contact you. No contact means, no thank you. Anything else creates MORE unwanted contact with a person you won’t be using. I also don’t understand that there are MANY people who respond to the media and I am just one of many that the media is sorting through. I would rather send a nice/nasty note just before I got interviewed than wait and see what happens. I have no problem letting you know how nasty I am after only one contact with me so I am make sure I don’t get interviewed or REFERRED as a good interview.

g)    You respond to the media far past the deadline. Translation: I don’t know how media works at all. I don’t read my email and cannot be counted on for a quick response.

h)   Your email responds to me that I need to sign up first or get my email cleared by entering in all my information to get an email to you. Translation: I am very clueless as to how email works and how media works. I really think you will enter all that data when you don’t even know me. I don’t realize that are several other people on the list who are making it easy

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Understand that every contact with media is an audition, not just a phone conversation or just an email. We are trying to figure out who can make our job easier. We are not looking for prima donnas. We work on speed.

My personal experience has been, the bigger the name, the easier the interview. They did what they could to accommodate me. I did what I could to live up to my end.

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