It’s the most basic rule of media relations: Nothing is off the record. Anyone who has prepared for a media interview –from a start-up entrepreneur to, well in this case, a five-star general — knows that any comment you make during an interview with a journalist is fair game. Why then would General McChrystal jeopardize his military career and his reputation by disparaging the President of the United States as well as other senior administration officials?
Before the article, “Runaway General” hit newsstands on Friday, June 25 General McChrystal had been summoned to Washington and relieved of his duties as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Social media networks, including Twitter, and blogs around the world suddenly erupted with discussions about the remarks made by the general and fanned the flames. Accounts of the interview process suggest that General McChrystal and his team of advisors got too comfortable with the reporter and they simply let their guard down during a long delay while stranded in Paris following the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Regardless of the circumstances, General McChrystal’s team suffered a serious lack of judgment and set in motion a firestorm that will most likely end more than one career.
We prepare clients for media interviews almost daily. Whether preparing for a basic profile or a sensitive crisis, a core tenet of our counsel is to remember that nothing if off the record. In this case, General McChrystal was not a newcomer to media interviews. Given his past record of newsworthy remarks and blunders, additional preparation was clearly needed. Before the general returned to D.C. for his meeting at the White House, the press aide who arranged the interview with Rolling Stone resigned.
Although we are not always able to control the comments and statements made by individuals, this situation reinforces the need for those of us who prepare clients for interviews to reiterate the basic rules of media training. It never hurts to remind a client one more time that everything they say can be used by a journalist. One thing is certain: General McChrystal will be the example used in many media training sessions for years to come.