When I was driving back from a media training course earlier this week there was a debate on the radio about the abuse female online gamers receive.
As interesting as it was, it didn’t look likely to provide much inspiration for a blog.
But I was pleased I stuck with it.
As the debate went on we learnt that not only had UKIE, the UK’s trade body for the games and interactive entertainment industry, declined an invitation to take part in the programme, but it had also failed to send a statement through.
According to presenter Nihal Arthanayake, the organisation had simply stated that they ‘didn’t think it was one for us’.
That surprising response triggered quite a rant from the presenter to his Radio 5 Live audience and you can hear it here (06.30).
He said: “Really? A whole conversation about games. You are the UK industry body and this is not for you. Ok, I’m not sure how it couldn’t be for you.
“If anyone from UKIE is listening, it would be good if we can get a little bit of a better statement than ‘we didn’t think it was one for us’?”
Hey @uk_ie it's a shame that your response to us discussing the abuse that female gamers face with @Djari328 on @bbc5live was "didn't think it was one for us" Really?!
— Nihal Arthanayake (@TherealNihal) October 9, 2018
@uk_ie disappointing to hear that you’re not willing to speak to @bbc5live & @TherealNihal about the issue of abuse to online gamers. Shame on you for not standing up to show your support. Makes a mockery of your twitter account description 😟
— Graham Williams (@grahamdw40) October 9, 2018
We’ve written quite a lot about the risk of turning down interview requests and the few occasions where it can be the right move.
But the general approach is to send through a statement when you don’t think an interview is the way to go. Certainly, from my own career, I can’t remember ever not sending through a written response when an interview was rejected, unless the request was not relevant.
And, TIGA (The Independent Game Developers’ Association) and Microsoft, who also both declined requests to take part in the programme, sent through detailed statements which were read out on air.
Journalists can be quite mischievous when it comes to embarrassing those that have snubbed interview requests. The empty chair is the most widely known tactic, but calling them out live on air and essentially requesting that they send through a better response is a newer form of humiliation.
But it worked. Around half an hour after Nihal had issued his plea, he had a statement from the CEO of UKIE, Dr Jo Twist.
It said: “Harassment and abuse are unacceptable in any walk of life. This is not something which is exclusive to the gaming community. It is wrong, illegal and something that society must police.
“The games industry takes its responsibilities very seriously and employs a large number of tools, techniques, communities and moderators to safeguard users and maintain their games experience to ensure consumers are suitably protected and informed about how to play safely and sensibly.
“Increasingly, artificial intelligence is being used to enhance and improve moderation of in-game communication and are now able to cover pictures, text and audio. The use of AI machine learning of online spaces does not replace the role of highly trained and specialist moderation teams, but instead enhance the capacity and effectiveness of safeguarding.”
Thank you to @uk_ie for finally sending us a comprehensive statement regarding the abuse that female gamers have to endure. Many of the points made in the statement resonated with our guests.
— Nihal Arthanayake (@TherealNihal) October 9, 2018
I’ve quoted it in its entirety because it is quite a statement to produce in around 30 minutes. It makes you wonder why it was not available at the start of the programme.
Perhaps the ‘it’s not one for us’ response was a throw-away comment which it never expected to be used on air.
But it was, and that in itself is a reminder that anything you say to a journalist is on-the-record and can be used.
It is also worth pointing out that if you have as much to say as UKIE eventually did, then maybe you should be accepting the bid in the first place.
The wider lesson here though is around how you manage interview requests that you don’t want, or are unable to accept.
Firstly, it is crucial that organisations don’t create the impression that they are putting off or dodging the interview.
Be honest. If the topic or format is not suitable, or you don’t have the right spokesperson available (it is important to have more than one that has had recent media training), explain those reasons to the journalist. Perhaps the only spokespeople you have are very nervous and not suitable for such high-profile interviews? If that’s the case just let the producer know. After all, they don’t want to put a voice to air that isn’t capable of adding to or moving the conversation forward.
If you can, point them in the direction of another organisation which may be better placed to help.
And encourage them to come back to you with other interview requests in the future.
Finally, do provide a statement so that your organisation is still represented. But keep it succinct. Nihal generously read the whole UKIE statement, but many journalists would just pick out a couple of lines – having someone read aloud large chunks of text does not make for riveting listening. And those lines may not be the key message that you want to get across.
The key is not to burn bridges. There’s a good chance UKIE will be looking to national radio stations for proactive media coverage in the not too distant future – but will Radio 5 be willing to give them the airtime after this episode?
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