Bad news, incidents and personal stories

Two routes: a first statement for bad news about an organization or business, and the conditions to ask for before telling a painful personal story.

1. Which route to read, and who speaks Understand

This chapter has two routes because the two situations ask different things of you. Route A is for bad news about an organization or business: an incident, a failed inspection, a complaint, a mistake. Route B is for a personal or painful story: something that happened to you or your family, which a reporter, host or producer wants you to tell. Section 1 and section 4 are shared. Read them whichever route you take.

Which route to read

Your setup's topic answers this for you. Without a setup, use the table.

Terms used on this page: a first statement is a short written account of what happened as far as you know, ready before the first call. A spokesperson is a person who speaks or writes for you or your organization. Conditions are terms you ask a reporter to accept, such as the place of the interview or topics left out. On the record means anything you say can be quoted with your name. The glossary collects the rest.

Who speaks

There are three ways to respond to a request when the subject is bad news or painful. Each gives you something and costs you something.

For an organization, the CDC's crisis manual stresses one consistent message. Its example is the 2003 Michigan blackout, when two neighboring counties gave different restaurant rules and the public could not tell which to follow (CDC, CERC: Messages and Audiences). If several people in your organization might be called, name one voice and tell the others to refer calls to that person.

For a personal story, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) says a spokesperson can be an attorney, an advocate, a clergy member, a family member or a friend, and that the spokesperson can release written statements for you (OVC, Advocating With the News Media). The guide is archived and no longer updated.

2. Route A: bad news about an organization or business Route A

Use this route when an incident, inspection result, complaint or mistake involves a business or organization you speak for, and a reporter has called or may. The guidance below comes from the CDC's Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) manual, which was written for public health agencies in emergencies. Marcus Bell's cooler is far smaller than an outbreak. Treat CERC as agency guidance scaled down, not as a procedure tested on small businesses. Agency guidance

The six principles

CERC names six principles for communicating in a crisis. The table gives the CDC's idea for each in our words, and what it looks like in a first statement (CDC, CERC: Introduction).

The order of a first statement

For the first minutes of a crisis, CERC says to express empathy, explain the risk simply, promote action and describe what is being done. It adds that people can take in only so much at once, so keep the first message short and skip the background (CDC, CERC: Introduction; Messages and Audiences). The statements sheet follows that order with a field for each part. Write the facts first because they are easiest; when you say the statement aloud, open with the concern. Our arrangement of the CDC's order

Say what you know, what you do not know, and what you are doing

The CDC's formula is to state what you know, what you do not know, and what you are doing to find out more, and to avoid speculating. If the facts change, update quickly (CDC, CERC: Messages and Audiences). The CDC's spokesperson chapter adds model wording: the situation is developing, we do not yet have all the facts, and based on what we know we expect a particular outcome. It also advises against assumptions and against promises that may have to be reversed later (CDC, CERC: Spokesperson). Agency guidance

Communicating uncertainty covers how to state uncertainty and numbers. The point here is narrower: a first statement has a line for what is not known, and that line is written down before a reporter asks for it.

Do not hide bad news

The CDC's chapter on working with the media says to get the good news out fast "and the bad news faster" (CDC, CERC: Working with the Media). The World Health Organization's 2017 guideline on emergency risk communication reports a systematic review in which several practices predicted higher trust, including speed and not concealing negative information such as casualty rates (WHO, Communicating risk in public health emergencies). Both documents are about public health emergencies. They support the habit of saying the bad fact yourself. They do not tell a small business what it may release, which the next Limits box covers.

Regret, not defense

The CDC's advice on acknowledging a mistake is to be regretful and not defensive, to avoid telling people not to be afraid, to avoid assigning blame through the media, and not to promise more than can be delivered (CDC, CERC: Spokesperson). In practice that means a sentence about the people affected, a plain fact about what went wrong, and a commitment only to actions you control. This is the only apology guidance this manual found and read; we found no research on how apologies work for small businesses. One agency's guidance

When you cannot share something

If you cannot share a fact, say why. The CDC lists three honest reasons: you are verifying it, you are notifying the people affected, or it is not yours to release (CDC, CERC: Messages and Audiences). The spokesperson chapter gives the matching lines: it is under investigation, no decision has been made, or you are not the right person to answer (CDC, CERC: Spokesperson). Both sources advise against "no comment." Hard and unexpected questions has the short version for a doorstep.

Run a privacy check before you name anyone. The CDC's media chapter notes that some details may violate the privacy of victims and their families (CDC, CERC: Working with the Media). In a business, the people affected may be employees, customers or neighbors. Leave names out unless each person has agreed.

Questions reporters ask in a crisis

The CDC lists the questions reporters commonly ask in an emergency. The table pairs each with what to prepare. The deck at practice question deck has more, filterable by bad news.

3. Route B: a personal or painful story Route B

Use this route when something happened to you or your family, such as a crime, an injury, a death or an illness, and a reporter, host or producer asks you to tell it. The guidance comes from US victim-services and children's-rights sources, not from counselors. You decide whether to speak. This section gives you the questions, not an answer.

Decide whether to speak

The OVC's guide lists questions to ask yourself before agreeing (OVC, Advocating With the News Media). The table pairs each with what asking it brings out.

The OVC also says that refusing an interview does not prevent publicity about your case. A story can run with other sources. So refusing is a choice about what you control, not a way to keep out of the news. Agency guidance

Benefits and risks

Two victim guides set out what people have found on each side. The Justice Solutions guide hosted by North Carolina lists benefits (it can show the human effect, validate victims and encourage others to seek help) and risks (trauma can be compounded, and coverage can cause what it calls secondary victimization, meaning further harm from the way the story or its aftermath treats you). The Voices Center for Resilience tip sheet is written for people affected by mass violence, so some of its points will not fit every situation, but several carry over (Voices Center for Resilience, Considerations for Speaking with the Media).

The Oregon Department of Justice makes the last point in its tips for bias-crime victims (Oregon DOJ, Tips for Bias Crime Victims Interacting with the Media). We found no source that teaches how to handle harassment after a story runs, so this manual names it as a risk and gives no method.

Conditions you can ask for

The OVC and the NC guide list what you can ask a reporter to agree to. The statements sheet has a line for each. Reporters will most likely comply with reasonable requests, says the OVC, but they may not. The NC guide adds that you can ask what the story is about, but editors usually have the last say.

You can also decline any question and end the interview at any time. The NC guide says this applies even if you agreed earlier. These are not conditions you earn. They are choices you hold; the reporter may not accept the conditions, and then you decide what to do next.

Tell the reporter before the interview starts

State your conditions in writing before the interview, and ask the reporter to confirm them in writing. A reply that says "yes" to some and silence on others tells you where you stand. In person or on the phone, repeat the conditions and the stop signal as the first thing you say, before any recording starts. The NC guide recommends agreeing ground rules, including a signal to end, before you begin. Choose a signal you can say or do without explaining: a word, a raised hand, or "I'd like to pause."

Sample message (fictional sender, general wording): "Thank you for asking. Before we agree on a time, these are my conditions: we talk at my kitchen table; my sister sits in; no questions about the other driver; my son is not named or pictured unless he and I both agree. I have a word that means stop, and I will use it. Please confirm each in writing."

If the reporter will not agree

Some conditions may not be met, such as leaving a topic out. In order of what keeps the most control for the least cost:

1. Ask again, with the reason, and ask what the reporter can promise instead.
2. Offer a written statement, or a different reporter.
3. Agree to the interview and decline the question in the room. The OVC gives a polite refusal as an example ("I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about that"), followed by a return to what matters to you.
4. Decline the interview. The story may still run (see above).

Practice the refusal aloud once, with the exact words you will use. It is easier to say a sentence you have already said.

Children in a story

UNICEF's reporting guidelines say a child's interview needs permission from both the child and the guardian, in writing where possible, given without coercion, in the child's language, and with an understanding that a story may spread widely. They also say to avoid questions that bring back the child's pain (UNICEF, Ethical reporting guidelines). NPR's ethics handbook says it requires a parent's or guardian's permission to interview a minor on a sensitive subject (NPR Ethics Handbook: Respect). Voices says young children can and should be left out of interviews.

For a parent, the working rule is our convention built on those sources: do not put a child's name, face, school or details in an interview, a photo or the media kit unless the child and you have both agreed, and keep the child out of the room. Convention This manual does not say what age or what law decides who may consent. That depends on the outlet, the state and the case.

What reporters' own guidance asks of them

Knowing the standards helps you ask for them. The Society of Professional Journalists' code, revised in October 2026, asks journalists to show heightened sensitivity with crime victims and juveniles, to weigh the permanence of publication, and to recognize that private people have more right to control information about themselves than public figures. The code is voluntary and not legally enforceable. NPR's handbook says to take extra care with people unused to interviews and to give them a few extra minutes before taping. The OVC advises reporters to approach without equipment first, accept refusals, and offer anonymity only when they can reasonably keep that promise. These are standards, not promises about any one reporter. Convention

Off the record

Our default is to treat everything as on the record, including what you say before and after the recording. An off-the-record arrangement exists in journalism, but the words mean different things at different outlets, and it counts only if the reporter agrees before you speak. A first-time interviewee should not rely on it. If there is a detail you want kept out, do not say it. Convention

4. For both routes: what is public and what this manual cannot settle Both routes

What you say to a reporter, producer or host is public, and it stays public. The Oregon Department of Justice puts it as "public and permanent" (Oregon DOJ). Photos you supply may be reused later. Assume that anything you say to an outlet can be quoted, from the first greeting to the last goodbye.

Keep a few things out of what you tell reporters, and out of anything you share from this manual's media kit: your home address, private phone numbers, and anything about a child. The kit's sheets do not ask for them. This is our convention that rests on the risks the Oregon DOJ lists (effects on children, school and employer, and the risk of being outed). It asks for nothing; it asks you to leave things out. Convention

Who settles it

Many of the questions around a hard interview are not answered by this manual or by the reporter. The table names who answers each.

5. See it See it

Said aloud, with the concern first, the statement runs about 100 words, roughly 40 seconds at 150 words a minute (a round figure that is not measured for any one speaker). The CDC suggests 30 seconds and under 90 words for a key point, so Marcus can say the first four sentences aloud and leave the rest in writing. Marcus sends it by email to the Ledger and to Valley 12 at the same time, which is the CDC's point about giving every outlet equal access. At the door, he can say one sentence and point to the written statement. What he does not do is guess about illness, blame the inspector, or promise a reopening date the county has not set.

If the Tribune-Record reporter says the driver questions will be asked, Teresa has the order above: ask again with the reason, offer a written statement, decline the question in the room with her prepared sentence, or decline the interview. The story can still run if she declines. She does not have to decide until she has the reporter's answer in writing.

6. Practice Practice

Minimum: decide who speaks and write it on the statements sheet, then fill either the first statement (Route A) or the conditions (Route B), or write "not needed". Time: about 45 minutes for a full pass; 5 minutes if your topic is routine. Materials: the statements and conditions sheet (essential if your topic is bad news or personal; optional otherwise), a phone to time yourself, and, if you can, one person to read the questions.

1. Write who speaks in the first field of the first statement. If it is someone else, ask them now, and write down what they need from you.
2. Route A: fill the other fields. For each fact, write beside it the document or office that proves it. Read the statement aloud and time it; the CDC suggests getting a key point out in 30 seconds and under 90 words (CDC, CERC: Spokesperson), so check that your opening concern and facts fit. The answer timer counts words and shows seconds at your rate.
3. Route B: tick the conditions you want and write a note for each. Choose your stop signal. Write the one sentence you will use to decline a question, and say it aloud.
4. Ask the person who settles the legal line (see who settles it) the one question that applies to you. Write the answer, or "not yet answered," on the sheet.
5. Send your statement, or your conditions, before the interview starts, and ask the reporter to confirm in writing.
6. Say three hard questions aloud from the practice question deck, filtered to your situation, and record them. Play them back with the playback checklist on the practice answers sheet.

7. Your interview Your interview

8. Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Does the sheet name one person as the voice, or a written statement only?
• Route A: could you point to a record, measurement or office for each fact, and does the statement say what is not known and why?
• Route A: is there a line of regret or concern, and no blame, speculation or promise you cannot keep?
• Route B: does each condition have a note, including the stop signal, and is the child's name or picture covered?
• Does each open legal question name who settles it?
• Did you tell the reporter your conditions, or send your statement, before the interview, and ask for confirmation?

Worked example

Check Marcus's sheet against the criteria. One voice: yes. Each fact has a source: the inspector's measurement and the repair he saw himself. Regret: yes, one line, with no blame of the inspector. Not known: the report and illness are listed as not known, with the health department named. Promises: the reopening date is "we expect," not "will," because the county sets it. Under these assumptions the statement is ready to send; the wording of regret is not final until his insurer or a lawyer has looked at it. Check Teresa's sheet: each condition has a note, the stop word is chosen and told to the host, and Eli is covered. What her sheet cannot say is whether the driver's case is open; her note says to ask the victim advocate before the recording.

Common mistakes

• Writing a statement that opens with background. Fix: open with the concern and the facts.
• Filling "what is being done" with plans written as if they were finished. Fix: label each as done or scheduled.
• Skipping the legal question because the reporter is waiting. Fix: say you will respond by a time, and ask first.
• Listing conditions but not telling the reporter. Fix: send them in writing before the interview.
• Treating a condition as a guarantee. Fix: the reporter may not agree, and you decide what to do then.

What is still unresolved

This chapter cannot tell you what you may admit, whether speaking affects a case, whether you may speak for an employer, or whether to speak. The people named in the table in section 4 settle the first three, and you settle the last. It also cannot tell you what the outlet will use. Hard and unexpected questions and Communicating uncertainty cover the questions that follow, and After the interview covers what to do if the story gets something wrong.

9. Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The statements sheet shows who speaks and either a first statement, a list of conditions, or "not needed".
• I know which person or office settles any legal question that applies to me, and I wrote it down.
• I told the reporter my conditions, or sent my statement, before the interview, and asked for confirmation. (Only if an interview is scheduled.)
• I said three hard questions aloud and played them back. (Go deeper; optional)