Unless you know the reporter, and you know that their coverage about subjects that you personally are well-informed about has been accurate and fair (not just plausible-sounding coverage of things you don’t know) then Rule 1 is don’t talk to reporters.
I almost always don’t. If it seems plausibly important I offer to answer their questions off-the-record, if they’re really looking for knowledge rather than a money misquote; and so far only one reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has taken me up on that—been interested in knowledge at all.
Unless you know the reporter, and you know that their coverage about subjects that you personally are well-informed about has been accurate and fair (not just plausible-sounding coverage of things you don’t know) then Rule 1 is don’t talk to reporters.
I almost always don’t. If it seems plausibly important I offer to answer their questions off-the-record, if they’re really looking for knowledge rather than a money misquote; and so far only one reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has taken me up on that—been interested in knowledge at all.