In a previous life I have had to deal with the media, primarily at a local/regional level, and have found myself misquoted and sometimes comments taken out of context. In my current job my contract forbidly expresses talking to journalists as do our SOPS for my company. I feel the best way to handle these situations is if as I currently am, unable to talk to the media, to politely refer them to the
PR section. If you do not have that facility then perhaps the below may help.
If you have to speak to the media then keep it concise, easy to understand, and accurate. This saves them and the editor effort especially if they are working to a deadline. It obviously does not prevent the addition of any 'spin' if thats the bag they're into. If you're supplying images, make sure they are anotated correctly with location, subject, and names of people listed left to right, this reduces the chances of Mr Smith being Mr Jones and vice-versa. Producing interesting images is also challenging, as from my albeit limited experience as an occaisional freelancer, newsdesks seem to have a poor grasp of distance, time and geography from job to job! and you're still working to that deadline!.
A good source of stuff for writers is the writers and artists handbook, produced yearly for about £20:00. It has lots of good contacts in all types of media and gives lots of hints and tips to potential contributors. Also if you know you're going into a specific publication and you have the time, blag a previous edition/copy to see their style.