A golden rule of dealing with journalists is this – if you ignore them, they won’t go away. A lesson sadly not learned by the owners of a company in Scotland which supplies care for the elderly and disabled – some of the most vulnerable members of society.
An investigation by the BBC’s Mark Daly (you may remember his undercover documentary The Secret Policeman) led to a series of radio and television reports alleging that one of the country’s largest private homecare companies, HRM Homecare, was indulging in several suspect practices including falsely charging local authorities for work that was not being done. Daly tried several times to persuade a spokesperson from HRM Homecare to be interviewed, but instead they chose to issue a statement. Good practice? No. Effective? Definitely not.
These days programme presenters won’t broadcast the statement without comment. The BBC made it clear that the company refused an interview, “would only issue a statement” and appealed for someone from the company management to phone in and defend themselves. This echoes Jeremy Vine’s exasperated response to similar silence from another big corporation: “British Gas if you’re listening, a statement is not enough. Speak to us, please!”
So the lesson? Don’t fall into the trap of hiding behind a written statement if the broadcast media are making allegations about you. It may have been acceptable twenty years ago, but today just by being willing to put your side of the story, you will be well on your way to winning the battle.
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