Advise about talking to the press

[A_Pommie]

Hi I'm after a bit of advise,
A couple of months ago I had a sub optimal landing experience. The AAIB have now published the report into this. The local paper are now trying to contact me with regards to the accident.
So do I talk to them or ignore them and hope they go away?

[Wrong Stuff]

From my very limited experience (talking to the financial press) they selectively use your quotes and make up whatever they want anyway. Personally, I wouldn't talk to them. I doubt they'll go away though - just prepare yourself to read a work of fiction. Better still, don't read it.

[airborne_artist]

Make sure you tell them about the school and old people's home that you bravely steered away from, but don't mention the kittens that suffered.

Or just say that you are grateful for the AAIB report, and wish to study it in full before making any comments.

[Cusco]

Don't talk to them : They've got the report let them report on that.

If you speak to them you will not have any editorial control over what they put out and they will try to misrepresent you and trip you up.

Don't do it.

Cusco.

[MaintainYourHeading]

talking to the press in aviation is never a good idea... usually makes more damage than anything else ... in every aviation company when an accident/incident occurs the operation manual requires the pilots not to talk to the press and redirect them to the appropriate departments. there is a good reason for that. press loves to extrapolate on aviation subjects. be careful if you decide to get in touch with them. cheers

[west lakes]

If you do
Beforehand agree with the reporter what questions will be asked, even suggest points that you want raised (don't forget that they may have no idea about aviation - use this as a way of getting points across)
Take time to answer and think through what you are going to say before you open your mouth. Don't be rushed!
If asked additional questions, either refuse to answer or take time to think it through.
Don't, whatever happens, lose your cool
Try and get some idea of what sort of story the reporter is after (local papers can, often, be less inclined to sensationalism - get some idea by reading the paper & other articles by the same reporter)
Our local paper once published a story about me containing some errors and missing some pertinent facts. A complaint to the editor ended up with the agreed text of a letter for the "letters" page, an explanaition and a correction to the story.
As far as you can you set the place & time

Stick to what happened not WHY
Don't make statements like "I should" "I forgot" "I made and error" - you get the point
Use the AAIB report as an indication - they do not, usually, apportion blame!
Don't use hindsight "If I had done this" etc.

You are doing them a favour, not the other way round

[GearDownFlaps]

Lie like a bugger , most press especially local reporters are not very clued up in matters aviation , tell them how the accident was caused by a failure in one of the fallopian tubes causing the vor needle at the end of the spinner to detach , see how much of the wanton bull!!!! they are daft enough to print

[bjornhall]

1. Don't talk to the press. No matter what. Under any circumstances. Ever.

2. Don't read it either.

[LH2]

I had a sub optimal landing experience

Mate I'm going to write that one down in case I ever need it

As for the press, I don't know but FWIW, perhaps have your lawyer send them a statement? Might intimidate them enough not to publish anything too silly.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

They'll print what they like regardless of whether you talk to them or not.

Local rag journos aren't generally all that bright, are they ... otherwise ... they wouldn't be local rag journos, would they.

And even if the journo gets it right - and you do get some good ones - the subs will think it doesn't make a good enough story and will mangle it at worst, or put on a completely nonsensical headline at best.

As a politician I do have to stay on speaking terms with the local press (well, in the longer term that is, there was a period of a few months when I made it clear I wasn't talking to them over something they'd misrepresented even more egregiously than usual) so I usually put some effort into telling them the real story in the hope that some of it might make it into print or onto the airwaves, and I think that on balance, in the long run, this does more good than harm.

But I can't tell you which way to jump with a one-off encounter with them. Could go either way, pretty well at random.

[BackPacker]

Sometimes you can negotiate that you get to see the final story first, to check for "factual inaccuracies". Particularly if you're talking to a non-aviation-knowledgeable journalist. So you may not be able to change the tone of the story but you can point out the things they got factually wrong after the interview, and get them corrected.

Press normally don't like giving insight in their story before it hits the presses, but if they need to choose between that and no story at all, you might get lucky.

[A_Pommie]

Thanks for the advice.
I hope I can just ignore him and someones hamster will learn to dance and distract him from this story.
Pretty much all my neighbours have been over this evening saying the reporter was knocking on doors all down the street.
I have nothing to add to the AAIB report as it is an abridged version of the report I sent to them.

[goatface]

Just refer them to the AAIB and tell them you've nothing else to add about this, but, while they're on the blower, you could tell them that while flying one night, you did see and get to know the Man in the Moon and how he got his Cow to jump over it.

Far more interesting and relevant at the moment than scrapes and prangs in flying machines.

[mary meagher]

Rule number one of the Press: Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

However, you may enjoy this one. About 15 years ago a l7 year old on a gliding scholarship scheme while flying with an instructor on a sporting day, had a front seat experience of failing to reach the airfield and having caught a wing on an inconvenient tree, cartwheeled into what was fortunately a very very soft muddy field. Arriving on the scene, tremendously relieved to find them both unhurt, I took some souvenir photos of the wreckage, and sent copies to the young lad so he could impress his school chums with his adventure.

Week later, got a call from the newspapers. Heard about the crash, can you give us details? Well, I said, nobody hurt, yes, some damage to the glider, but gliders do field landings all the time, no big deal.

I didn't realise the lad had shared the photos with the media. They featured the spectacular wreckage under the heading "Gliding Club Representative says this happens all the time. . . . . . . . ."

[SNS3Guppy]

Advice about talking to the press

Don't.

They'll print what they want to print, anyway.

[Zulu Alpha]

Best to do it in writing by answering questions by email.

Most journalists are lazy/busy so if you write the story for them then they will just copy it.

Don't answer the question, just write what you want to say.

ZA

[wsmempson]

You could take the Michael O'Leary approach and jsut talk complete bollocks, on the grounds that that is what they are going to write anyhow.

Michael Gambon, the actor, once claimed that he used to be gay. He had to give it up, he said, because it made his eyes water. He told another interviewer he'd started his career as a dancer in the Royal Ballet. He had to give that up as well, after he fell off the stage.

Or, of course, there is the Matt Damon approach which is to give interviews of such mind-boggling dullness, that very quickly journalists stop calling at all.

Good luck, whatever approach you choose; personally, I'd be inclined to say that you bumped your head during the incident and can't remember anything at all.

[ExSp33db1rd]

Are they interested in helping you not to make sub-optimable landings ?
No.

Are they interested in promoting recreational aviation in your local area ?
No.

Are they interested in creating a 'scary' story so that the Great British Public will rise up in terror and try to get recreational aviation banned everywhere, lest you fall on their houses, and schools, and hospitals ?
YES.

I once had a major failure in a 747, returned to departure airfield, deliberately didn't tell ATC anything, and they were canny enough not to ask. 5 minutes from landing I declared an emergency, so that the fire trucks and ambulances were on hand - we didn't need them, no disaster, but still the Press had time to scramble a helicopter to follow us down the approach and be ready to film the fireball. Around 3.00 am the following morning the Press rang one of the stewardesses, we were in a foreign country, and pretended to be a relative of one of the passengers, and ringing from our home counry. they will stop at nothing to get a sensational, headline selling newspaper.

Be polite, or they will roast you, but be firm - NO. They can get all they want from the AAIB public report. Have sod all to do with them.

Be Warned - no good will come of it.

[LH2]

So where are the journalists?

Thing is, we know there are a number of journalists in this site. Off the top of my head I can remember two from the BBC and one from El Reg.

This would be a wonderful opportunity for them to contribute something back to the forum by giving their opinion, and perhaps a word of advice or two.

[BackPacker]

My thinking exactly. If I were a journalist, I would be very ashamed to read this particular thread. I mean, we have a very professional pilot here who was in a genuine emergency situation, but did not declare an emergency because he did not want to alert the press. And that's just one of the stories - there must be more like that, considering the advice that people give.

If I were a journalist on here I would either stand up and defend my profession, or quit.