Education & Training: Media Interviews (Can You Handle The Media?)

Are you prepared to handle reporters? Can you answer their probing questions intelligently?

Education and preparedness are a tanning salon’s greatest assets when dealing with the media. Whether reporters identify themselves or go undercover posing as customers, a knowledgeable salon owner or employee can answer questions with tact and professionalism. Be proactive and educate your employees about handling the media. The information a salon representative gives to a reporter about tanning—in general and at their salon in particular—could mean the difference between the all-too-familiar negative news coverage and a fair or positive report on tanning.

Last spring, Steve Dannemiller, vice president of the California Indoor Tanning Trade Organization (CITTO), was contacted by a TV station doing a story on teen tanning. He invited the reporter to visit his salon, showed him the software controls and proper consent forms, and gave a balanced view to the reporter’s story.

While being interviewed for a news segment like this can be intimidating—especially with the knowledge that the reporter probably also will be interviewing an anti-tanning foe—don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Dannemiller offers the following tips on handling local media:

Prepare for the worst. Don’t go into the interview without knowing what angle the reporter is taking. News media often bashes tanning, so it is entirely possible the news story you are asked to participate in is taking a negative angle. Be sure to ask the reporter up front what approach he or she is taking. Be prepared to be tenacious, because reporters may not want to tell you the angle. But once you know, you can set goals on how you can use your interview to turn their angle into your angle.

Put your salon in the spotlight. When the reporter shows up, be sure you and your salon are in top form. Even if the news angle is negative, you can help sway the coverage by presenting yourself as a knowledgeable tanning professional, and your salon as a clean, well-maintained business that is run according to federal and state—and your own—high standards.

Provide information. Answer the reporter’s questions honestly and thoroughly—do whatever you can to show your salon and the industry in the best possible light. Sometimes, reporters may ask questions that provoke an emotional response, but don’t let that show in your interview. Think about it as a business matter and answer without emotion. Avoid using “No comment” as this is generally taken to mean, “Yes, but I don’t want to say why.” A better response is to say something along the lines of, “I’m sure you wouldn’t expect me to comment on a question like that.” Overall, do your best to keep control of the interview. Deal with exaggerated claims head-on. If you feel that things are going downhill, try to switch subjects by using transitional phrasing.

Be aware. Don’t forget that the interview begins the first time the reporter contacts you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, just because you are not officially being interviewed, the reporter won’t quote you. You must be “on” the entire time.

Speaking From Experience

Jim Wint, owner of Odenton, Md.-based Electric Beach Tanning Salon and a TanToday.com member, suggests the following when faced with a media interview:

“First, understand that you can control your own behavior and statements but you cannot control how that behavior or those statements will be portrayed by the media. You simply are a character in the writer’s story; therefore, simple, concise and specific answers to the reporter’s questions are better than running your mouth. Plan on making two to three ‘sound-bite’ statements you would like to see in print. You might get lucky.

In my experience, the story slant was outlined or written before the reporter got to me—they were basically looking for quotes to fill out the story. I was not going to change the slant of the story; all I could do was show my business and myself in the best possible light. In one case, the direction I took in an anti-tanning article ended up as a positive sidebar and photo caption.

Also remember to be nice and personable. The reporter doesn’t want to make you look bad but the slant of the story may be negative because the editor wants it that way. Understand that the reporter is just doing his or her job.

Finally, I always follow up with a phone call and e-mail after the story, regardless of whether I liked it or not. Trust me, you want to be in the reporter’s Rolodex.”

For more insights on this topic and many others, log on to www.tantoday.com, the indoor tanning industry’s favorite Web-based meeting space.