A word with Mendolsohn
Yesterday Jon Fleishman posted an interview with the governor's new communications director, Adam Mendolsohn. The most interesting response was Mendolsohn's to Fleishman's question about dealing with reporters: FR: Do you have a philosophy or a style of doing business with reporters? AM: For me, the most important part of dealing with reporters is trying to understand their job. They are under a tremendous amount of pressure to get stories that are well reported, fresh, and accurate. It is our job to protect the people we work for and try to get positive stories. It is a natural, unavoidable tension that does not have to be aggressive. If you understand what reporters need in order to be successful and give it to them (without compromising your loyalty to the organization), the good reporters will reciprocate. Hopefully, you can build up their respect for you by respecting them. If the respect is not on both sides, then it is problematic. You can read the whole thing here. |
Comments on "A word with Mendolsohn"
I agree with Mendolsohn on the matter of establishing a working relationship with reporters, but I took exception to his generalized swipe at "anonymous" bloggers.
It is my belief that all forms of media, new and old, are open to scrutiny. That a blogger chooses to be "anonymous" does not compromise his or her ability to be truthful and accurate. Nor is there any guarantee that reporters / bloggers who are not anonymous will check their facts or tell the truth.
If being anonymous disqualifies the veracity of an article or editorial, then we should all burn our copies of the Federalist Papers.