So You’re Thinking About Talking to the Press

This document was curated by former public servants for technologists and public servants. Please use this as information only, and defer to your judgement based on your situation and circumstances. This is not intended to be legally binding advice. 🙂

Authored by Jacky C with collaboration from Angie Q, and other kind contributors in their personal capacity. 

The publicly shareable link to this post is https://community.publicgood.tech/c/resources/so-you-re-thinking-about-talking-to-the-press-c580b8ba-c2ae-4b83-b1f0-bb28abb79f30

This work by Technologists for the Public Good is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

This guide was written during a time of high stress and chaos in early 2025. During this time, both individuals and organizations are figuring out the best ways to communicate and to keep the public informed of what is happening. The goal of this guide is to help people working in and around the federal government navigate this uncertain time in thoughtful ways, and to ideally also serve as a longer-lasting resource on how to engage with reporters. The press is an important resource for keeping the public informed and ensuring vibrant public discussion and a healthy democracy. Like any other action that might have far-reaching consequences, preparation and intentional action is critical to effectively using public communication as a lever for change. 

Remember that talking to the press can have major personal consequences, both legal and professional. You need to weigh the risks you’re taking against what you hope to accomplish with your conversation and determine if that trade off is worth it. You should also remember that many organizations are sensitive about what is shared with reporters and may have policies that require employees to seek approval before responding to or initiating a conversation with a journalist. If you don’t have that approval, you should consider the risk of reprisal.

Weighing the risks

What are you hoping to accomplish?

You should consider what you are trying to do by talking to a journalist. What is the information you’re trying to share? Who is the audience that you’re trying to reach, and what are you hoping that they’ll do as a result of that information? Based on your answers to those questions, you should vet the journalist and the publication that you speak to. If the reporter is the one to initiate the conversation, you should make sure you understand the story they are currently writing, as well as their historical writing on the topic if it exists.

Publications

Make sure the publication you speak to will actually reach your desired audience. For example, you don’t always need The New York Times to write a piece if you’re trying to reach federal workers in specific agencies. Similarly, people at nonprofit organizations probably aren’t reading Federal News Network, and lawyers probably aren’t reading Fast Company. Beyond just their audiences, different publications have different biases and different styles that will impact the stories they write (and I mean beyond the simplistic left-right spectrum). The Economist is known for well-researched, nuanced articles – which means they’re not going to be great for responding to or influencing a fast-evolving situation but will be good at conveying how a complex system works and the consequences of seemingly unimportant actions. Axios writes articles with a lot of bullet points, which is great for breaking news, but can be difficult for conveying nuance or the impact of singular actions on complex systems.

Journalists

A common phrase you’ll hear when you get media training is “journalists aren’t your friends.” This is true but they’re also not your enemies. The main thing to remember is that journalists have their own incentives and their own goals, which generally prioritize bringing new information to light that their competitors haven’t yet reported, and may not necessarily be about driving action or specifically drawing the same conclusions that you have reached. Especially in a hectic information environment where they know the media is already facing a lot of distrust, they’re going to be skeptical and cautious to ensure their reporting is credible, and they’re going to seek out multiple viewpoints and ways to corroborate the information they’re receiving. They also know that their information will be perceived to be more credible if they can cite sources, which might work against your desire to not bring attention to yourself. 

If you’re going to talk to a journalist, you should look at articles they’ve written before. If they’ve reached out to you, you should ask what their angle is / what story they are trying to tell and for articles they’ve written on the topic before. Do some of your own research as well – find articles written by the journalist, whether on the topic you’re specifically discussing, or at least to see their broader experience if they haven’t touched on your specific topic before. If the publication the journalist is writing for doesn’t have bylines, look at what the publication has overall published on the topic. If they’ve cited folks you personally know and trust, reach out to them and ask them about their experience working with that journalist.

Additionally, if you receive cold outreach from the journalist, especially if it’s over text message/Signal, you should confirm that they are who they claim to be. This can be via searching for published contact info (many journalists will publish their Signal usernames or phone numbers) or by checking with folks in your network who may have had previous contact with the particular journalist.

Having the conversation

Beforehand

Assuming you’ve done your research, you know the style of the publication and the angle of the journalist you’re talking to. The next step is to ensure that you are comfortable with the basic dynamics of communicating with a reporter. If you’re speaking officially on behalf of your organization, they should have resources available that can help you prepare. If they do not have these resources, or you don’t have access to them, you should take the time to educate and prepare yourself.

Basic Media Training

You should make sure you’re familiar with basic press ethics and terminology. “Off the record,” “on background,” and “on the record” all mean different things, and you should be familiar with them and ensure when talking to the journalist that you have a shared understanding at all times about how the information you’re conveying can be shared. You can also use plain language up front to define what you’re comfortable with and avoid the jargon, but you should know these terms because the people you’re talking to will likely use them. Remember that you have a shared goal of communicating your information to the public, but understand what your redlines are around the risks you’re willing to take and be ready to communicate them upfront. 

Crafting Your Message

Figure out exactly how you want to convey your message. Think about what your audience knows and assumes and what information you need to share to lead them to the same understanding that you have. Lay out how your information connects together, and be ready to repeat the most important points. Think about the different ways you might convey the same message, in case your original statement doesn’t seem to land the way you think it should.

Plan for additional questions that you might be asked. While you can’t predict exactly how the conversation will go, it’s helpful to think about what additional information you might be asked for, who might corroborate your statements, any documentation that could be shared and so on. You should also think through if there’s anything you don’t want to share, and make sure you are ready for how to handle those questions if they come up.

Communication Methods

Remember to be thoughtful about your communications. Conversations on official systems are subject to public records requests and internal oversight. You can always reach out and ask for a reporter’s phone number. Remember that written communication is easier to trace and to share, so it’s best to minimize your digital footprint.

If you and the reporter are both located near each other, you can request an in-person meeting. If you do so, you should choose the location of your meeting carefully to avoid being seen or overheard. Reporters may ask to record your conversation in these cases, so you should not be surprised by such a request and ask them how they intend to use and protect those recordings.

Whistleblower Protections

It is important to remember not to inadvertently share privileged information (e.g., proprietary, pre-decisional, or classified information) when meeting with a journalist. People, especially those with limited experience working with journalists, often make mistakes and say more than they should. People also share documents that look innocuous, but contain privileged information, such as unpublished decision memos. Accidentally sharing information that is not public or yours to share could lead to legal consequences. 

For example, you may have experienced inappropriate behavior exhibited by an individual in a classified meeting space. Sharing the nature or details of the behavior (e.g., harassment) may be appropriate whereas sharing classified information that was discussed in the meeting could result in significant legal consequences.  

Likewise, if you mention the existence of an unclassified government document, a journalist may submit a freedom of information act/public records request to legally obtain a copy. If you share a copy or the contents of the document directly, you may be committing a crime or violating a legal agreement (e.g., ethics rule, employment contract, non-disclosure agreement).

If you intend to share privileged information that is not available through other public channels you should consult a lawyer with expertise in contract law, administrative law, and/or whistleblower protections. With their support, you should strictly follow the law to ensure that the information you share is appropriate, the process is well-documented, and that you are comfortable with the potential costs and consequences.

A good way to find an attorney is via a referral, but the American Bar Association and state bar associations will also provide referrals. There are also firms that specialize in whistleblower processes and protection, such as Whistleblower Aid, a non-profit legal organization that helps public and private sector workers report and expose wrongdoing. When you are introduced to an attorney for the first time, it is a good idea to get a read on them and their prior experience with cases similar to yours before revealing any potentially privileged information. If you do not feel that an attorney is a good fit, then you should feel free to seek out another referral. 

Preparing for Additional Consequences

Speaking to the press can have downstream effects on your own personal and professional reputation. If you are easily identifiable or on the record, you will become associated with the topic, even after you have left your current organization. While this can be desirable, such as establishing yourself as a subject matter expert, it can also lead to unintentional reputational risk as well. This may lead to outreach from other organizations that you were not expecting (such as from political actors or escalated negative online attention).

If you are sharing information without approval, recognize that this may lead to more immediate and specific professional consequences, including losing your job. If this is a step you choose to take, you should ensure you are prepared for this risk, have an updated resume, and download any documentation that you may need for a future job search.

If there is a high-level of public scrutiny on your workplace such that you are feeling the need to engage with the press, many people are likely already concerned about their own personal risks, as well as the danger to the public / government / vulnerable populations posed by whatever activity you are discussing. Additional information coming out to the public will increase this dynamic. It may empower other folks to act, and/or it may increase the sense of personal risk and danger internally. Either way, it may increase scrutiny to your place of work and the people around you. People under this sort of pressure often make poor or short-sighted decisions, so you will want to ensure that (1) you are managing your own level of stress and making thoughtful decisions for yourself and (2) you are both giving grace to those around you and recognizing that their actions might be more unpredictable than usual.

During

As mentioned before, the first thing to do is make sure you and the journalist you’re speaking to are on the same page about if you’re on or off the record, and that you have the same understanding of what that means. If you agree to be quoted, you can ask to see how it will appear in the article before publishing. If you are sharing sensitive documentation or information that you believe could be easily linked back to you if not reported carefully enough, you should ask for assurances that they will run how they use it by you before publication prior to sharing it. It is much harder to get those assurances after you have already shared the information.

Be clear with your communication and repeat things that you think are important, highlighting the most critical parts of your message. Take your time answering questions. If there’s something you’re unsure about or don’t want to respond to, you can just not respond. Things that may seem trivial or like throwaway points to you may be significant to the reporter, so carefully consider any additional information that you had not planned to share. If at any point you are uncomfortable with the conversation, you can cut that discussion short or end the whole conversation.

The journalist may ask if they can identify you in some way even if they don’t use your name or title (eg. “a senior official with agency X”). The goal of this identification is to build trust with readers in the information that is being published. Even if you’re not specifically being named, you will want to be careful with how you are described. You should think about how many other people would match that description (eg. “a senior official working on X program at Y time” is probably not that many people). Additionally, the information you share may help narrow down the list of folks – if there were only a handful of people on a call where the information was shared, the pool of people to look into is very small. If you are sharing information that you are not authorized to share, recognize that after the piece comes out, there’s a good chance that paranoia in your work may increase and folks may be trying to figure out who spoke to the press. 

Journalists are generally incentivized to protect their sources, but they also need to balance that with building trust with their readers. It can be helpful to consider other methods of building trust in your information that can be shared in an article besides identifying yourself. This can include sharing documentation (especially if there are public data sources that are unknown but could corroborate your information), or questions to ask other people without referencing you.

If you are sharing documents, you should be aware that the specific documents can sometimes be used to identify you. Avoid directly sharing images; instead request that the information be rewritten and the image recreated rather than shared directly from the source. 

After

The interview

You should feel comfortable asking the journalist to share the context of any quotes they use with you before they publish. Depending on the outlet, the reporter might only be able to paraphrase the broader paragraph/context rather than send the full thing itself, and they may be limited in how much they can change a quote, but they should generally be able to work with you on this so that there are no surprises. They may also have some follow up questions. You should remember to take the same amount of care with any responses you make that you took in preparing for the interview.