Teaching with Mr. Manners (aka Mr. Streisel)

1. Teaching with Mr. Manners(aka Mr. Streisel) A refresher course in professional etiquette

2. Opportunities for Professionalism • Existing perception of the publication • Initial contact • Interviews and interaction • After the interview • Whenever there’s trouble

3. Existing Perceptions • Credible • Accurate • Fair • Balanced • …all leads to trust. • How is the paper perceived, and what leads to that perception?

4. Initial Contact • Email • Phone • In-person • What do you want your first impression to be?

5. How to handle? “The reporter contacted me on Wed. evening by email with a bunch of questions that he wanted me to reply to because he said his story was due by Friday. When I was unable to respond by email he showed up unexpectedly Thursday morning to try and conduct the interview. Unfortunately, I did not have a lot of time to help him out. He was also very unprepared and did not have any prior information about the season. For example, he wanted to know how we were doing so far, yet we had not even started practice.”

6. How to handle? “I am very busy at the moment and you need to give someone a reasonable amount of time when you want to schedule an interview. I doubt if I will be able to do this by Tuesday.”

7. A better way to say this? “Hi, I need to schedule an interview for a story about how XXX is becoming XXX in students’ lives. Also, my story should include some information on how XXX. Thank you.”

8. Listen to your sources “Dear, XXX, I am a member of the newspaper journalism staff, and my beat this year is XXX…” (You know the rest.) “Dear XXX, The XXX Club is not in operation at this time. The members are working on forming a different type of club, since XXX is not offered this year.” “Dear XXX, Would you be available Thursday morning around 7:15 for an interview about the XXX Club? If not, could you please find an available time? Please reply with your answer as soon as possible. Thank you.” “Again, we do not have a XXX Club this year.” “Dear XXX, Could you please send me a convenient time and location for our interview as soon as possible? I appreciate it a lot. Thank you.” “Jim, Please take care of this.”

9. Interviews and interaction • Show evidence of preparation/research • Have a list of questions and materials • Show up early • Be polite • LISTEN • VERIFY information • Say thank you

10. Is there a better way? “Hi, Jim, I was quickly interviewed about 5 minutes before the bell rang in my XXX class 5th period this morning. It was very unexpected and rushed and after hearing some of the questions, I felt caught off guard and noticed that the (reporter) kept asking me questions that felt negative. She didn’t write down most things I said, so I am worried about being misquoted. I’m curious about what type of article this is for and if I may have a chance to preview my comments…as I wouldn’t want to have the art department portrayed in a negative way.”

11. After the Interview • Ask follow-up questions if necessary • Send a thank-you card • Send source questionnaire • Save your notes/tapes/research

12. What to do? “Hi, Mr. Streisel, My son, XXX, received a call from a student named XXX requesting an interview with him about XXX. He met with her this morning and did not feel he could answer her questions and does not want to have his name mentioned in the newspaper regarding this issue. Would you please make sure his name is not mentioned in the article in any way? Thank you very much for helping us with this.”

13. When There’s Trouble • Be polite • Don’t get defensive • Check your notes • Write a correction/clarification if necessary • Send a note of apology or verbally apologize

14. It’s not all bad “Jim, Thank you for the quick reply from your journalism students regarding the XXX story. I appreciate both of the letters. I thought XXX’s story was very good overall, and I hope that my comments will help her even more in the future.”