Bob just walked into your office with a strange look on his face to announce that a reporter is outside and she wants to talk with the CEO. That's you.

It's panic time! Apparently, word got out about the problem in manufacturing, and now you are going to have to deal with a reporter. You just 'know' you're going to be painted in the worst light possible, your customers will see the article, and your business is 'down the tubes'.

The problem with this scenario is that it doesn't have to be true, but unless you take immediate action, it can happen, and it has happened to others! Here are some ideas to guide you in dealing with problems that attract the press.

WHAT THE REPORTER WANTS
Most reporters are motivated by four needs.

• To search out and identify the perceived bad guys of the world, especially those who are perceived as hurting or being 'unfair' to ordinary people. This explains why you see so many stories revolving around egregiously high pay, executive perks that ordinary workers cannot receive, neglect of duties that can affect people, and similar situations.

• To provide comfort for the people they see as being hurt by the negligence or indifference of people and firms who they feel should know better. This is why many of their stories point the hot finger of blame on CEOs. Reporters feel top executives should know what's going on in their business and are therefore ultimately to blame for failures.

• To get the story in print or on the air before anyone else in the business. Time to fully analyze the situation just isn't there. This makes it almost a given that what you tell them will be interpreted through the two filters identified above and may in no way resemble what you perceive to be the truth.

• To provide a 'balanced argument'. This is why your extremely positive facts and explanations are usually tempered with negative or skeptical input from competitors, industry watchers, environmentalists, and similar outside agencies.
  

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO - RIGHT NOW!
Here are the challenges to you. Whether you personally give answers or turn the whole thing over to your PR department is immaterial, but if you don't personally talk with the reporter, providing him or her with additional information, you will probably be pictured as the 'bad guy'. How do you avoid that? What is important is to have a response ready before the situation is discovered. Here's how to proceed.

• Don't dodge the reporter. Without facts and statements from you, the reporter is free to interpret the data at hand, and that could be a total disaster for both you and your firm.

• Be honest. Don't try to hide the truth. A good reporter will eventually discover what really happened, and if they find out you lied or even just covered-up, you will suffer greatly at their hand. If you screwed up, say so. Don't attempt to put the blame on an underling, take it yourself. You are the boss, and in the reporter's eyes, you are responsible for whatever happens.

• Anticipate tough questions and tough reporting. Be ready to show why the facts as known are only part of the story. The reporter will modify the story if you present a convincing argument with facts or if you can show valid reasons for the problem. "We didn't anticipate the results" is NOT a valid reason, you should have known better!

THEN WHAT??
Remember, you will receive scathing attention. Bad news about your situation is a given! You will be painted in the most negative light possible given the facts and mitigations you present to the reporter. Good news doesn't sell papers, or attract sponsors to a radio or TV program. Only bad news does that.

Follow the guidelines listed above. The fact of your identifying the problem along with having a solution at hand will mitigate, but not eliminate the bad news. If your solution satisfies the reporter, you may be perceived as merely a bungler and not a greedy, money-hungry murderer of small children.

Your quick and honest response to tough questions along with believable facts and solutions to the problem may cause the reporter to let you off with a slap on the wrist rather than an execution. This distinction has nothing to do with either the problem or the solution; it is a judgment entirely developed in the mind of the reporter. If you cannot convince the reporter, you will be presented in the most negative light possible.

THE END RESULTS
Work closely with a PR agency RIGHT NOW to put together a coherent, honest, fact-filled solution outline that can be used as a template. Play the 'what-if' game, by setting up a disaster, then using the template to design a media contact. Do this for several possible and maybe even an impossible scenarios. You may never have to use these, but the exercise will help you handle that reporter if and when a major disaster does occur. Be like the Scouts, "Be Prepared"!