Did you hear?… How not to deal with media

Speaking of How Not to Deal with the Media (OK, we weren’t talking about that, but we will): SNEWS® calls a company about a business deal we’ve heard just happened. Simple straightforward news. We finally reach the man to talk to, we identify ourselves, and tell him we’re interested in the “who, what, when, why” of the deal. His response: “I’m swamped. I’ll have to think about it.” Excuse me? We’re asking about a simple news bit. “I’m working on a press release,” he says. We finally eke out a quote from the guy, who acts like we want to kidnap his first-born. We can practically hear him tapping his fingernails and feet on the other end of the line. SNEWS® View: Guys, get a life here. If you want your name and your product getting out there, be nice, be cordial, be reachable, and give us information, not some interrogative song-and-dance. If you’re nice to us, we’ll be nice back — especially when something more than a straight piece of news comes up. This is a two-way street, this news stuff.