Ten Tips For Working with Reporters

If you are contacted directly by the media, please get in touch with the UL Lafayette Office of Communications and Marketing for assistance and coordination. Call (337) 482-6397 or send an e-mail to communication@louisiana.edu.

1. Respond to reporters promptly. They are often on a tight deadline
2. Get the name and contact information from the reporter.
3. Ask what subjects they wish to discuss so that you can prepare.
4. You don’t have to provide an interview in the initial call. Ask to call back so you can better prepare.
5. If it is a broadcast media interview, ask if the interview will be “live” or recorded.
6. Keep your answers short for broadcast media. Relay the most important information first and then go into more detail, if necessary.
7. Avoid industry jargon. Most viewers and readers don’t have your expertise.
8. Always be truthful and fair.
9. Make sure you are clear to the reporter when you are expressing your personal opinion, relaying University policies or viewpoints or stating findings from your research or other documented research.
10. Never go “off the record” and never say “no comment.”  Never!