Some years ago, (ok, more than some), a legendary reporter gave me the golden rules of reporting and writing. It stayed with me for a long time. “Be accurate and be interesting. That’s all you have to do,” the reporter, the legendary Mickey Carroll, then of the New York Times, told me.
There are writers in newspapers, public relations, and speech writing who like to embellish the truth with little artful trifles, but the truth is much more fascinating and more compelling for the reader.
When I became Press Secretary to Mayor Koch, a friend of mine from my former paper, The Post, had a big scoop. He found out that the Mayor’s chef was selling his cakes on the side at Balducci’s, the old food lovers’ market in Greenwich Village.
Amidst the gastronomic delights the chef was selling, according to this story, were something called “garlic strawberries.” I said to the reporter, “You have a great story, why do you have to make up something as artificial and stomach-turning as ‘garlic strawberries’? It only undermines the credibility of your story.” He said, “Yeah, but it adds spice.” He was a bad cook.
Another time, a nationally famous columnist was covering a hearing on the condition of the City’s jails at the City Council. I happened to be reporting on the story for The Post.
The next day my rival had a completely different story and I was called up by my city editor who said, “Did you see so and so’s story?” I said, “Yeah, it was completely fictitious. It never happened.” The editor then shot back, “Why didn’t you make up the story? It was a good read.” “Gee thanks!,” I thought.
Time and time again, you will be pressured by the outside world to improve your story by embroidering the truth a little or making up quotes. But if, you use these ruses you will soon gain a reputation of not being accurate and not being trustworthy.
When you pitch a story to a reporter, if the reporter thinks that you are making something up vital to the story, there is a good chance you will have undermined the reporter’s confidence in you.
This lesson has served me well first as reporter, then mayoral press secretary, and to this day, as a PR guru. It’s tempting to embellish, but the truth serves our clients best in the long run.
Stick to the Truth!
