Monday Morning Media Minute

Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney found themselves in confrontations with reporters last week. I’ve been there a few times myself. Maybe you have, too. It’s generally a bad idea. But not always.

Romney got into it with an AP reporter in South Carolina who challenged his claim that “I don’t have lobbyists running my campaign.” Clinton went after a TV reporter who suggested his wife’s campaign was behind a lawsuit by the Nevada teachers’ union concerning participation in the state’s political caucuses.

When he’s on, nobody’s better at telling his story than Clinton. But he’s been tangling with reporters a lot recently – enough so that some other prominent Democrats and people connected with his wife’s campaign are urging him to chill out a bit. That’s good advice.

One of the most common mistakes people make with reporters is developing a fortress mentality because they assume reporters are out to get them. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You don’t have to like the reporters who are covering you. But you do have to work with them. That doesn’t mean you should ignore mistakes or biases by reporters. But picking fights whenever they ask a question you don’t like – as Clinton did in this case – is asking for bad coverage.

Romney made a different mistake. The reporter who challenged his no-lobbyists-running-my-campaign claim injected his own point of view into their exchange. But Romney would have been better off moving on instead of engaging in a debate. The exchange was captured on video and played on TV. And it was pretty clear by the time it was done that Romney was making a distinction that won’t matter in the minds of many. The fact is he has several lobbyists serving as high-level advisers, although they’re not “running” the campaign.

Here’s the bottom line: You’re entitled to express your point of view, whether reporters agree with it or not. You’re also entitled to point out mistakes to reporters. And you’re entitled to defend yourself against unfair accusations.

But, with some exceptions, you’re almost always better off staying factual and avoiding emotional, heated exchanges. You won’t win those. And, when all is said and done, the reporter’s the one who writes the story.

That’s my two cents’ worth. What’s yours?

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