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THE STEALTH INTERVIEW - WHY YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL OF EVERY WORD YOU SAY ONLINEBy BL Ochman
Chances are good that a traditional or new media reporter is looking for a quote that reinforces or gives contrast to his/her point of view and something you once said online fit the bill. The quote could come from a forum, a blog or list comment, an exchange in a social networking forum, an article you wrote, even an email. You will definitely be quoted out of context in a Stealth Interview because there is no context. The interview never happened. But you're quoted nonetheless, and you did make the statement. You just didn't think you were saying it to a reporter. The Internet not only brings a new component to media interviews but also offers a new definition of reporter. Thanks to the Internet, and particularly to inexpensive, easy-to-use blogging software, everyone can be a publisher. A post by an influential blogger or list moderator, or a comment made by a complete stranger in the feedback section of a media site or chat room can have as much - or more - impact as a story in a major national news outlet. How Not to Come Across Like a Jerk Unless you're paying close attention, you may never even know you've been included in a story via a Stealth Interview. Whether that encounter hurts you or helps you has a lot to do with whether you know how not to come across like a jerk. The stealth interview that has come into wider use as the popularity of the Internet has grown. Journalists of all stripes are overworked, time stressed and, let's face it, lazy. So how do Stealth Interviews come about? If you said something brilliant or something wonderful was said about you, you're in great shape. If you ever wrote an insipid or nasty comment in a chat room, responded less than perfectly to an interviewer's question in a story that was printed, posted or streamed online it won't be a secret. Most writers begin their research online. They'll type in the topic in a search engine and see what and who comes up. They'll follow links to several sites and scan the material to see if anything there is usable for the story. If they find names of experts within these sites, they will make note of them and then enter those names in Google's search box to see what comes up. And, voila! you're a source for a Stealth Interview. Online, for all the world to see, will be every post you ever made to a blog, forum, discussion group or mail list; every mention of your name on Websites, newsletters and blogs anywhere on the Internet; articles you have written or been mentioned or featured in; and if they are properly search engine optimized: all the press releases you have issued. Online Content is Forever Because of the way search engines are set up, every citation stays in their index until someone at the search engine company removes them. Sites that are long gone are still indexed and still come up in search results. A site containing information about you may long ago have gone belly up, but another site, or a blogger may have included information from the defunct site in his/her site, where it will be preserved, and visible to search engines, indefinitely. Blog software automatically archives each post and so you better believe, posts have legs. A journalist or blogger seeking information on you or a quote from you can easily find these entries and pick them up. Bloggers, for example, tend to quote from and comment on news stories published by other bloggers or journalists. Once something appeared that was incorrect, even if it was later corrected, it can come back to haunt you over and over. Take very much to heart the fact that everything you write or say can come back to haunt you, especially on the Internet. Online journalists aren't the only ones using the Stealth Interview. Busy traditional journalists in a hurry or in another time zone are just as likely to use the technique. Be Vigilant, Even Paranoid • Search the Internet to see what is available online about your company and its executives. Put all applicable topics into the search engines, LexisNexis and Factiva to see what comes up. Or use a service like Media Watch that will scan the Web seeking mentions about you. That way, you'll at least know what is available to reporters. And for god's sake make sure that contact information for a publicist is prominently featured. Make it absolutely clear to your executives and your clients that they should not respond to ANY interview request about you until they speak to you first. The last thing you want is a clueless executive answering questions on a whim. And next time you're tempted to fire off a flippant comment on a blog or forum, think twice. Issue 109
NEW! WHAT MARKETERS MUST KNOW ABOUT BLOGS
Is blogging just an overblown fad or a revolutionary new medium you can't afford to ignore? B.L. Ochman, noted Internet strategist, PR guru and influential blogger gives you straight talk about blogging. She gives you scores of examples of successful business blogs, advice on what to blog about and why, plus dozens of resources you can use immediately.
WHAT COULD YOUR COMPANY DO WITH A BLOG? shows you How Smart Companies Use Blogs for Marketing and PR Success and How You Can Too 105-pages includes: --- 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed --- "For anyone, and especially non-bloggers like me, Ochman's new report Robert W. Bly, author
IN WHAT'S NEXT BLOGMy blog, What's Next Blog covers Internet strategy, marketing, public relations, politics with news and commentary. Here are some of the topics I've featured in the past few days: Do More Women Blog Than Men? Probably Not BusinessWire to Drop $120 Membership Fee and Lower Rates on News Distribution Red Couch Project Signals Sea Change in Publishing McCann Worldwide Site: Blue Man Meets Subservient Chicken Blogger-Jobs.com Launched to Match Employers With Bloggers Pale Male's Love in the Afternoon Video Newsweek Salutes The Alpha Bloggers NY Times Touts Blogs Among Great Ideas of 2004
MARKETING SHERPA'S NEW GUIDE TO WEBSITE ANALYTICS
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  What's Next Online is a free marketing tactics newsletter from whatsnextonline.com, which evaluates, develops and executes Internet and traditional marketing and business strategies for Internet and Outernet companies. It is sent only to subscribers. Our list is never made available to anyone.
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Whether you sell chocolate cookies based on your grandma's recipe or your business is suddenly involved in a windfall, scandal, or trend, it is likely you will someday interact with a reporter. Thanks to the Internet, you may be quoted, sometimes at length, without actually being interviewed. I call these interviews Stealth Interviews. 
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