I regularly speak to the media in my job, which is not in aviation. If people are experts in a field then there is nothing wrong with them building relationships with journalists who they trust. Many journalists are responsible hard-working people who want to report the facts accurately. Obviously journalists don't have expertise in specialized areas such as aviation and it's desirable that they get information from experts rather than the uninformed. When speaking to journalists it's important to keep the message simple and factual, and to think carefully before speaking. There are however some journalists I won't speak to because I've seen them go out of their way to over-interpret and sensationalize a message.