How To Be A Foreign Correspondent — Even If You Don’t Have Any Cleft Sticks

Reporters who travel through the world’s trouble spots spend a lot of  their time just trying to survive their own stupidity and ignorance. It’s an honest ineptitude brought on by sudden lusts back at the desk that send the hapless correspondent scurrying from home base to ground zero on a few hours notice. The result […]

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Tips for Buying Ultra Portable Recording Recording Equipment

    I’ve been asked a couple of times lately what I recommend for recording quick interviews, the sort of smash and grab of journalism that doesn’t allow time for the full set up of more elaborate recording gear. This used to be a real problem for print journalists before digital flash based recorders came […]

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How to Hold a Press Conference

A news, or press, conference is way of imparting information to journalists in a rapid and efficient manner. Instead of having to inform news organizations and reporters individually of something you can shotgun a bunch of them in a little less than an hour and move onto something else. But don’t get me wrong. There […]

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Off the Record — Not for Attribution: The Rules

Reporters and interview subjects frequently clash in confusion when trying to reach agreement on what can and cannot be quoted. I’ve sat through endless and circular arguments by both hacks and flacks in press clubs and bars about the Rules of Attribution. Few subjects result in more argument, misinformation, and frustration. Let’s start with Off […]

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How to Write a Press Release

or News Release if you are a purist. Here’s a guide to writing a Press Release. It’s meant to help people who have never done one before. After I’ve given you a workable blueprint I’ll include a few words about why you might want to rethink why you are writing the thing in the first […]

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