Handling Interview Requests
Vote Smart is available for any and all types of media interviews with the goal of increasing awareness of Vote Smart to the public. "Is Vote Smart available for an interview?" The answer is always, "YES"
If an interview request comes in via phone or email, immediately let Adelaide know and she will decide who should do the interview. If for some reason Adelaide isn't available, let the National Director know and get back to the reporter in a timely manner with an answer of someone for them to interview.
On-Call Spokespersons: Adelaide, National Director, Richard (National Media or specifically requested); Department Directors and members of the Communications team may also be suited to giving interviews when necessary, but will be subject to approval.
How to set-up a radio or TV interview:
- Verify date and time
- Verify the call letters of the station and/or what show or program this will be broadcast on.
- How long will the interview last?
- Will this be live or taped/pre-recorded?
- How will the interview be conducted? Nearby TV affiliate to one of our offices? Google Hangout? Will they call the office or will we call them?
- What is the subject matter; general information about Vote Smart, what we cover, how voters can access it? And/or will they be asking us to know any state specific materials, discussing specific candidates, etc.?
- Make sure you get their name and contact info!
How to set-up a print interview:
- Determine who they are and what organization they represent
- Try to determine what is the subject matter; general information about Vote Smart, what we cover, how voters can access it? And/or will they be asking us to know any state specific materials, discussing specific candidates, etc.?
- If they are emailing or looking to schedule a time or a spokesperson is not available, ask what their deadline is
- Put them in touch with the appropriate spokesperson
Note: Reporters may want to interview us for a comment on a partisan topic. We don't want to do commentary on something partisan, but we also don't want to immediately say no to the interview. See if there is a way for us to bring our research into the conversation, or talk about our tools instead. Ex: a reporter wants us to comment on voter registration in Texas. This is a partisan topic, however, we could shift our focus onto our voter registration tools, how voters can use our research to track their official's stances on voter registration, or our research on recent voter registration key votes we have. Keep in mind that we could also bring in a board member such as Kyle Dell (a political scientist) to do the interview on behalf of Vote Smart.
Giving an interview? Make sure to take a look over the Crib Sheet and have the Check List handy. Also check out this video with tips on video interviews.
