Can I just put out a message draft a statement of lawyers recruitment? Put it out, not take any questions. That is a question I get from clients all over the world from time to time and the answer's no. Reporters do not want to feel manipulated. And if you are the subject of some kind of a story where there's a crisis involved, your credibility is already several notches lower. So if you now expect to be able to spoon feed reporters a statement and not hold yourself accountable at all not hold yourself up for scrutiny, you are sadly fooling yourself.

Now reporters might pull one little quote from your statement, but they're gonna have a whole lot of other space and that story to write or state in television or radio broadcast, that you refused all questions that you're in hiding, and they now have more space to quote People saying you routinely did wrong things or bad things or destroy the environment or create a hostile work environments, all sorts of other things. So I understand your goal of trying to control the outcome. We all want control of media interviews. But simply putting out a statement when you know reporters are just dying to talk to you is too manipulative. It's too ham fisted, and reporters will rebel with that and it's likely to just blow up in your face as if you need it. Another problem.

My advice, if you've heard me say already, answer questions. No strings attached. Don't tell the reporters they can't ask you about such and such. Certainly up to you to be able to say Well, what I can say is, I don't know. What I do know is don't put restrictions on reporters put restrictions on your own mouth. If you focus on On the messages you want, and you are responsive to reporters with what they want, then everyone will win.

I'm all in favor of trying to stack the deck in our own favor. But if you try to make it too overt, it's not going to work.