The Right Way to Decline a Media Opportunity and Preserve the Relationship
By Ioana Good and Natalie Magierski, writing for Strategies & Voices
According to a recent study shared by Cision, “45% of communications leaders identified content creation as a top priority; however, only 33% rate themselves as ‘excellent’ at articulating a compelling brand story.”
As communicators and strategists, we understand the importance of telling a story authentically and meeting a deadline. That’s why it is critical to maximize potential by aligning with the right media outlets — and perhaps more importantly, divesting from the wrong ones.
Media opportunities come and go, so don’t stress if a media interview does not work for you or your client. The worst thing to do is miss a deadline without providing adequate notice, which will tarnish your relationship with the media.
In this article, we’ll discuss several main reasons for declining media opportunities and offer some workarounds if you want to make it happen. And if you need to decline the opportunity entirely, we’ll cover how to go about that.
You Don’t Have Enough Time
We recently secured a media opportunity with the Wall Street Journal for a legal client regarding the legal intricacies of TikTok, Inc.’s looming ban on January 19, 2025, which had a tight deadline — a couple of hours at best. As PR practitioners, we’re used to fast deadlines, but sources may not always be. In this instance, the client working on the matter shuffled their schedule (Wall Street Journal is a great place to be an expert source, after all) and participated in the interview with the reporter.
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