A Great Example of Transparency in the Midst of an Uncomfortable Situation

I’ve been receiving the free version of the Arizona Agenda for several months.  The writers describe it as “a political insider newsletter for political outsiders.” It arrives in the inbox each morning with a few nuggets of information about what is happening here in Arizona.

Yesterday’s newsletter included a rather lengthy, almost verbatim, recap of an interview between Hank Stephensen of the Arizona Agenda and Francis Wick, owner of Wick Communications.  Wick recently purchased the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.

I’m not here to discuss the acquisition or the resulting layoffs that seem eminent as a result. What I do want to discuss is how Francis, knowing full well that the interview was going to put him in a defensive posture, not only agreed to the interview, but from what I read here, handled it quite well.

We have counseled hundreds of clients over the years on how to handle media interviews – -both positive and not-so positive.   And without fail, we tell each and every one of them, “in a crisis situation, a reporter is going to run the story whether you participate or not. Better to be a part of it and tell your side of the story.”

And that’s exactly what Francis did.  The situation with the Sun isn’t good.  Wick hopes to improve on it while making business decisions that aren’t going to sit well with everyone.

But because of his participation in the interview, responding to the questions, providing straightforward answers, we are left to make up our own minds based on these facts.