Toolkit with Report Form - Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic ...

Section Six
Preparing Victims and
Survivors for Media Inquiries
◗ Help them assess how they want to deal
with the media. You can suggest they appoint
a family spokesperson. You can offer to help
them prepare a written statement in lieu of
interviews. You can offer to accompany them
on interviews. You can offer to speak to the
media if they don’t want to. Support and
respect their decisions.
◗ Caution them about the negatives of talking
to the media, including loss of anonymity,
over-simplification of the crime, hurtful
stereotypes, sensationalism, and possible
response in the media from the perpetrator’s
family.
◗ Inform them of the positives, including
gaining a sense of control and empowerment,
telling their own story, influencing the
accuracy and sensitivity of the coverage
and getting wider exposure in the case of
kidnappings or unsolved cases.
◗ Help them negotiate the parameters of
interviews. Ask the reporter what the story’s
angle will be, what questions will be asked
and who else will be interviewed.
◗ Explain that reporters do not write
headlines, choose photos, write photo
captions or decide the length or placement of
a story; editors make those decisions.
◗ Warn them that lengthy television and radio
interviews often get reduced to a minute of
airtime.
◗ Explain their options when coverage is
inaccurate. They can complain to the reporter
or editor, request a correction and/or write a
letter to the editor.
page 42
When Crisis Strikes | Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence | 2012