Great article by SEOMoz's Rand Fishkin that both provides examples of risks of dealing with journalists, and key principles for how to avoid getting yourself in trouble. I'll skip over the stories (read them in the article), but here are the key principles:
- Know what you want out of the press (no press, or any press)
- Have a clear and compelling story so that the journalist doesn't make up a less-than-ideal one for you
- Ask about the journalist's motivations so you don't inadvertently support a story that will naturally paint you in a negative way
- Study your interviewer beforehand
- Be very careful with your phrasing to make it harder to misquote you
- Prefer email interviews to verbal ones, as you can be more careful with phrasing more easily
- Everything is "on the record"
- Beware later questions and off-the-cuff "follow-up" questions
- Don't be afraid to call out journalists publicly
