A media relations primer for Anthony Scaramucci

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Photograph by Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post / Getty

Photograph by Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post / Getty

Apparently the new White House Communications Director doesn't understand how journalism works. Here's a quick primer:

  • If you're talking to a reporter, that's an interview.
  • Anything you say during an interview can be used by the reporter (unless you clarify and agree in advance that something is either 'background' or 'off the record').
  • Asking a reporter to reveal a source is offside and super uncool.
  • Using profanity in an interview is not a stellar idea. - A media interview is not a conversation. It may look like one. It may feel like one. But if you treat it like one, you're not going to be pleased with the results.
  • Reporters are not out to get you. But they're also not out to help you. They have a job to do. If you don't understand the ground rules, that's not the reporter's fault. It's yours.
  • Referring to yourself in the third person is creepy.
  • Two words: media training.