No Comment on Public Relations

Yesterday, I came across an online article, 20 better ways to say ‘no comment,’ by Brad Phillips at Ragan.com, and the title caught my eye right away. Here at HMA Public Relations, a Phoenix based PR firm, we work with many clients on a daily basis (which includes reactive media calls) and with other clients with many different crisis situations. In both cases, if the media is contacting them for information, the response “no comment” is not a response. We always recommend and help with coming up with a response even if at the time they can’t directly answer the question.
In fact, this morning at the PRSA Phoenix  Masters SIG event, “An Insiders’ View of Freedom of the Press,” Morgan Loew,  investigative journalist with KPHO TV5 and Dan Barr, partner at Perkins Coie, both discussed how when they get a response of “no comment” that typically means that something might be hidden or something is wrong.
Phillips had 20 interesting, and humorous, responses to use in place of “no comment” and while most were legal in nature, they could be used and modified for any industry.
What do you think of Phillips list? I would love to hear from you on some other better ways!