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<b>Media & Communication Corner: </b>A 'No Comment' Alternative

By Joshua M. Peck
June 29, 2006

There is an old adage in the public relations business ' Mark Twain and Voltaire are each said to have coined it ' that goes: 'Never argue with anyone who buys ink by the 500-gallon drum.' The corollary would be: 'Don't ever offer a 'no comment' to the press, either.'

A lawyer or other source who avoids returning a call for even an hour can be made, in print or on the airwaves, to look non-responsive; for a day, secretive; and in a week, positively criminal.

Maintaining a productive relationship with the press can, and should, help lawyers in the long run, and in some cases may be crucial to your business goals or those of your client in the future. But the downside to developing open and comfortable relationships with the press is obvious; sooner or later, you will get a call you don't want. Maybe lots of calls. So what do you do when a reporter comes calling, and it's your judgment that an on-the-record response is not in your best interests, or those of your clients?

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