Answer the &$%#* Question!

Answer the &$%#* Question!
They Don't Answer the Questions!

Ever Wonder Why They Won’t? They’ve Been Media-Trained. And the Public Is the Loser

Media training, a competitive and growing industry, teaches people all the fancy steps they need to answer the questions they want to answer, not those of an inquisitive reporter. The result: in too many cases, interviews become excuses to practice public relations, and instead of shedding light, they cloud public discourse. The captive public sits and watches the waltz glide by.

Dodging the question - Some media trainers counsel clients not to answer the question that’s asked, but instead to give a response that fits with the message they plan to deliver. Others insist that’s deceptive and urge clients to at least acknowledge or "satisfy" the question and then steer or bridge to their messages. Being asked if the sky is blue and answering that the grass is green is out of vogue, they say.

"You don’t have to say what you don’t want to say. But you must acknowledge the question," says Davia Temin, president of Temin and Company, a strategic-marketing and crisis-management firm. Saying "no comment," though, is not advised since it’s seen as an admission of guilt. Nevertheless, says the longtime New York p.r. executive Richard Weiner: "There are twenty-seven different ways to avoid the question and twenty-seven ways to say no comment."

When guests don’t want to answer, they use phrases such as: That’s such a complex subject . . . Your question is not relevant . . . You bring up an interesting point, but before I discuss it, I want to talk about . . . . Such dodges serve as a springboard to the message the guest wants to send.
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Books: Media Training 101