Journalists develop information through interviews and sources. The most successful journalists quickly master these important skill sets. The production of journalism relies on several elements: newsgathering, interviewing sources, researching and trying to find as much information as possible. The course will also teach you how to where to find information, interviewing skills and how to process information from various sources for publication.
How to navigate press conferences
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Del curso dictado por Michigan State University
Gathering and Developing the News
172 calificaciones
Michigan State University
172 calificaciones
Curso 2 de 5 en SpecializationBecome a Journalist: Report the News!
De la lección
Tools for finding sourcing
Technology and moving beyond typical sources is letting journalists reach more sources than ever before. You will learn how to use crowdsourcing, social media, press conferences and online resources as valuable tools to enhance your reporting.
Conoce a los instructores
Joanne GerstnerSports Journalist in Residence
Michigan State University School of Journalism
Jeremy SteeleSpecialist
Michigan State University School of Journalism
David PoulsonInstructor
School of Journalism
Eric FreedmanInstructor
School of Journalism
Joe GrimmInstructor
School of Journalism
Lucinda D. DavenportDirector & Professor
School of Journalism
[MUSIC]
[SOUND] I've been on both sides of press conferences,
both as a reporter covering the news and as a public relations professional working
with clients to get their news and information out to the public.
They can be a useful and important tool, but
there are some limitations that you should understand as a reporter.
There are few basic reasons why somebody might want to hold a press conference.
One of the most common reasons is because they need to announce something that's
newsworthy in the community.
Maybe they have a new arena being built, or a new person being hired at City Hall,
or some new project that's being launched in the community.
Announcements like these are one of the key reasons for press conferences.
Press conferences can also be used to provide briefings on complicated
issues to the media.
These sort of press conferences are a little bit more informal.
They're probably isn't an additional audience.
There may just be one or two speakers in the room, and reporters,
who sit around a table and have more of a conversation or
dialog with those experts on whatever the topic is.
Another key reason for press conferences are for
newsmakers to respond to news events.
Maybe there's a war or military issue happening, or
an emergency situation happened in the community, and so
public safety officials need to get information out to the public.
Or maybe you have a famous person or a public official who just needs to respond
to something happening in the news.
This sort of news event is another reason for press conferences.
Press conferences have some advantage for newsmakers,
those are the people who call the press conferences.
They help newsmakers to get their information out quickly and
efficiently to the public.
With just one event they can do interviews with multiple media outlets and
spread their news all over the area.
This allows them to reach a wide audience.
They can talk to the newspaper reporter, to people at local TV stations or
radio stations, all with one event.
In just an hour or two, they can cover everybody in the media in their community.
Press conferences also help news makers maintain control over their message.
The newsmaker is the person who gets to set the terms of the press conference.
When will it happen?
Where will it happen?
Who's invited?
The newsmaker can also have some control over who gets to ask questions and
which questions they answer.
Press conferences also help newsmakers avoid a media frenzy.
We've all seen pictures and video of members of the media swarming
around somebody, trying to get a comment or take a picture.
Most newsmakers want to avoid these situations.
They're stressful and
they don't help those people get their message out to the general public.
Press conferences have advantages for journalists, too.
Press conferences gives journalists access to key newsmakers who might not normally
give interviews, people like the president or the prime minister.
Or, people who run a local company or the mayor of your town.
These people may not have time to do interviews with every journalist in their
community, but by holding a press conference they can talk to all of them.
Press conferences also help journalists get all the information that they need in
one place.
If there's an emergency situation in their community,
the press conference might have the chief of police or
the person running the fire department or other people all in the same location.
The journalists can talk to all of those people at once and
gather everything they need for a story.
Press conferences also create a controlled environment to gather the news.
That can be important for radio reporters and
TV reporters, who need to be able to capture quality audio or
be able to record video in situations where there's good light.
A lot of times, press conferences happen in rooms set up for
press conferences, so there may be lights in place already for TV cameras.
Or, audio equipment that you can connect into to record the interviews.
Press conference has also
helped journalists keep up with their competitors.
If everybody's at the same place at the same time,
you pretty much know what story everybody else is working on.
But how do press conferences work?
It's important to remember that press conferences are normally called by
the newsmaker.
That means that they have some control over exactly what
happens at that press conference.
Usually there's a speaker with time for questions from journalists.
Some press conferences have a round table format.
That's more informal.
It allows journalists to have more of a conversation
with people rather than listening to a speaker from a podium.
Some press conferences may have multiple speakers.
All of these people might be impacted by the news and
they may all have something to say.
And then sometimes a press conference may be informal, and
may be called on the fly as the situation warrants.
In those kind of situations, you may not have a formal podium or lights or
audio equipment, instead reporters gather around the newsmaker and
have a press conference that way.
Most press conferences though, have pretty much the same format.
There's often an opening statement by the newsmaker.
A speaker or maybe several speakers.
And then time for questions and answers.
It's important for you as a journalist to understand the limitations though,
of a press conference.
At a press conference every journalist there is getting the same story.
That means unless you do work outside of the press conference, you're
story is going to be exactly the same as the story your competitor is working one.
Why would somebody in your community want to read both of those stories?
Or view both of those stories on TV?
Press conferences also mean that you as a journalist are giving up some
control over that story.
The newsmaker calls the time and place of the press conference.
You don't have control over that as a journalist.
The newsmaker also may choose who gets to ask questions, and
may also choose which questions they want to answer.
Press conferences are also inherently one-sided.
It's very rare that you would have members of an opposition group show up at
a press conference.
So instead, you're only going to hear one side of the story.
As I mentioned, question and
answer time could be limited by whoever's holding the press conference.
Or, there may not be time for questions and answers at all.
That means you're at the mercy of whoever is holding that press conference.
You're also competing with other journalists in the same space.
Press conference has also multiple media outlets there and lots of reporters.
So, you may be side by side with another camera person,
that's going to limit your ability to move around and do other things in the room.
Of course, if you understand all of these limitations,
you can overcome these kinds of obstacles at press conferences.
Know the ground rules before you go into a press conference.
Talk to the organizer.
Figure out who's going to be on the agenda.
Who will be speaking?
Will there be time for questions and answers?
What kind of equipment will be in the room?
Will there be lighting that you can use for your cameras?
Or maybe a box that you can plug a cord into to record audio?
Be prepared with questions before you go into the press conference.
Know which is your most important question in case you get the opportunity to ask it.
You may even want to coordinate with a another journalist that you may have
a relationship with to make sure that your questions are answered.
Or that, if there's a follow up question, it gets asks.
Of course, you should be courteous and persistent in a press conference.
If your question isn't answered, try to ask it again.
Be respectful, though, to all the other journalists in the room.
You're all there to do your job.
So, don't try to sabotage anybody else.
It's unethical, and
it's not going to help you out the next time there is a press conference.
And of course, do reporting outside of a press conference.
You should never rely only on the information that you get at a press event.
Like I mentioned before, you're only receiving the information that
the organizer of that press conference wants you to know.
Do some reporting elsewhere, talk to other people affected by the issue.
And of course, if you can, ask for
a one-on-one interview with some of the speakers after the press conference.
That could be one of the most valuable places for
you to get information out of a press conference.
A lot of times, organizers of press conferences like to have that opportunity.
One-on-one interviews give you a unique chance to talk individually with people at
a press conference.
That means that you can focus in on the issues that are most important to you and
your audience and your community.
It gives you a chance to go more in-depth on whatever the issue is that's being
covered at the press conference.
Or maybe talk about another issue that you'd like to talk to those people about.
One-on-one interviews also allow you to ask follow up questions that you might not
get to ask during a normal question and answer time in a press conference.
If you know these limitations, and if you know the ground rules of how a press
conference works, they can be a really valuable tool for you as a journalist.
Good luck.
[MUSIC]
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