Hidel Geraldo is coming! Banks face unique challenges when confronted by broadcast reporters pursuing a story. Here are a few suggestions for surviving the experience--with your bank's image intact.

• Author: Levick, Richard S.
• Position: Feature

As you leave the bank one quiet day, you spy him--accompanied by a camera crew and ready to roll: It's Geraldo Rivera! Geraldo's advance man ambles up and says, "We're investigating widespread malfeasance uncovered in a multifaceted FDIC investigation. We have reason to believe that your institution is involved, and we're interested in doing a preliminary interview and then a few follow-ups with you.

Your first instinct is to run for your car. But, everyone from U.S. presidents to Mafia dons has tried that with Geraldo--to no avail. Alas, you know that even if the interview goes well, it may damage the bank's image and possibly its reputation. The fact that you're innocent is irrelevant.

A banker's world is generally centered on respect for confidentiality and discretion. Historically, most banks' dealings with the print media have been handled tastefully, with a sense of gravity. But newspapers are not the same as television. TV producers are in the entertainment--and not strictly the news--business. In this age of widespread corporate and institutional irresponsibility, everyone is fair game. The banking industry may not be the front-burner target today, but tomorrow the sharp blade of the scythe may be swinging toward banks of every size and stripe. Remember the S&L debacle of the early 1990s?

The challenge in dealing with the unique demands of the TV media is that bankers risk losing control of their message and being lured into discussions that can harm their interests.

As such, bankers need to know what to do and say when a television reporter and the white-hot light of a TV camera invade their world. How well they stand up under the glare could have an impact not only on the institution's hard-earned image and standing in the community, but also on its ultimate business survival.

If it bleeds, it leads

Because television, while offering opportunities for positive coverage, is geared more toward entertainment than the print media, it is more easily attracted by controversial stories. Indeed, "No comment" can easily be orchestrated to make you look guilty on camera. It throws down the gauntlet and invites scrutiny. Bank spokespersons need to be trained and ready to handle questions from the broadcast media.

Attorney Jim Chapman, a former congressman from Texas, who has served as a spokesperson for several banks on payday loan issues, urges that banks cannot afford to say, "No comment," or shrink from the public spotlight.

"Consumers...