Remember when getting an interview with an elected official wasn’t so darned hard? When government employees were actually willing to sit down with reporters to discuss the people’s business? These days, says KOMU-TV news director Stacey Woelfel, the flacks have taken over and, what’s worse, no one is holding their bosses accountable.
Woelfel says young reporters, in particular, don’t raise enough questions when they’re shunted off to a spokesperson, after being told that an official won’t do an interview. They don’t ask why they’ve been turned down and they don’t try hard enough to speak with an official other than a flack. So Woelfel has decided it’s time to name names:
If it seems to me that an interview with the actual official would have been appropriate, I call him or her out in the story. Usually it’s as simple as a statement like this in the tag for the story: “Official X, the head of Department Y, refused to speak to us about story Z today. He also refused to let anyone else from his department speak other than a paid spokesman.”
Bravo, I say. “Refused” is a strong word, but it’s much more accurate than saying the official was “unavailable for comment.” Save that for when you can’t reach the person, not for occasions when they simply won’t talk. And push harder to find out why they’re unavailable. In the hospital for surgery? On a boondoggle to Las Vegas? There might actually be a story behind the stonewall.
One more thing, though. If we’re going to hold officials accountable for turning us down, we need to do a better job of holding ourselves accountable, too. What exactly does “Could not be reached for comment” mean, anyway? How hard did the reporter even try? Calling an office number and leaving a message doesn’t justify saying flatly that a person could not be reached–especially if you didn’t make the call until shortly before deadline.
To me, the phrase “cound not be reached” implies evasion and shouldn’t be used lightly. Why not spell out the effort the newsroom made to get a comment before tarring someone with that brush?
3 Comments
Read Woelfel’s blog link, as posted above. He nailed it.
Reporters with difficult questions for elusive public figures or corporations should not settle for spokespeople or blanket statements.
Nor should they let a savvy public figure slide when he or she finally calls back at ten minutes of five.
Be polite, but firm. Ask the tough question and tell the truth.
[…] Finally, if officials simply refuse to talk, hold them accountable. […]