Oracle, Sun Get Taste of Media Transparency

I’ve been following David Berlind’s experiments in media transparency with interest (read this and this) because like it or not it has implications – good and bad -- for the communications industry. Case in point, David recently posted a first-hand account of an interview he did with Oracle and Sun execs and how transparent journalism revealed a rather awkward moment for the spokespeople involved.    

~Snip~ Although my example doesn't involve that moment that many journalists have experienced -- the one where they ask a question and the PR person pipes in like an attorney exclaiming "objection!" -- it involves an equally awkward moment that gets caught on tape.  One where the interviewees have no idea what the answer is an obvious question is. I mean, like REALLY obvious. Who's to blame for such an embarrassing moment? Of course, the interviewees should be well-versed in their subject matter before meeting with the press. But the PR folks are the safety net. Their job is to anticipate questions -- especially the obvious ones -- and make sure that their clients are good and ready before taking that interview.

~Snip~ In this "case study" of how transparency can reveal some awkward moments, I'm meeting with Oracle's Tony DiCenzo and Sun's Peter ffoulkes to get introduced to the Enterprise Grid Alliance -- an organization that they were representing at a recent grid event in Boston.  I didn't ask for this meeting.  I was pitched on it and accepted, given that my primary beat is enterprise computing.

~Snip~ After being told of the [EGA’s] objectives, one by one, I asked for an explanation of each. After all, if I'm going to explain what the EGA does to ZDNet's audience of enterprise technologists, they deserve to have each of its major initiatives explained. Only, there was one problem. When I asked what "data provisioning" was, neither interviewee had the answer. Neither did either of the two PR counselors who were accompanying them. For me, it was as strange moment. It seemed like an obvious question. Perhaps for them, it wasn't. I was told they'd get back to me. Unfortunately, given how frequently I write, I have to get the stories out while they're fresh in my mind. There's really no time to get back to me. And so, the story goes out with text like this:

Unfortunately, when it came time to discuss what data provisioning was, neither ffoulkes nor DiCenzo could answer.

Is there a basic lesson to be reminded of here? Of course, come prepared for every interview -- that’s media relations 101. The interesting thing here is that where before this sort of misstep might get overlooked in a story, as more reporters experiment with transparency in their journalism, missteps like this will be magnified and available for all to see.

Comments

[Anon]

I always wondered how company execs could sound so knowledgeable rattling off features of all their products, until someone mistakenly added a letter to the name of a feature I'd worked on (turning it into something completely different) on a PowerPoint slide. And I swear, over the next several years the executive du jour would rattle off that same feature name with great authority, to the unquestioning acceptance of most of the audience and the amusement of the rest.

It was educational.