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So, something that both @yourewrongabout and my own personal experience has made me realize. It's not normal for people to talk to press.
It wasn't normal for me back whenever I started doing it. and I phrase it like that because I honestly can't remember when I started speaking to press specifically. It must have been at some point between 2014/6.
Ah ha! "Bethany Lilly, a policy attorney at Bazelon, told me that right now the system has substantial gaps in services, and H.R. 2646 would just pour more money on the most coercive elements of how we respond to people in crisis..." http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/12/paul-ryan-blames-mass-shootings-on-mental-health-laws.html
So at least 2015 onwards.
I will just say that being a spokesperson on the issue of mental health and gun violence is a trial by fire in terms of dealing with media.
So, things that I know now that might be helpful for folks starting off on their own process of talking to press.
People are looking for something short and pithy to quote. It's better if you plan out what exactly those short pithy things that you're going to say will be. Pick three points you want to make and make them.
And then keep making them. Because the way you phrase them each time you say them is different and one may be better than the other.
But most importantly, don't be afraid to let the line go dead while you think about what it is you want to say and how best to say it.
They are going to ask you something you don't know. Tell them you don't know. Or, if you can't remember the specific study, tell them you can't remember and you'll follow up the email.
If in doubt, always go back to the personal experience that you're trying to highlight.
