Albrecht Press Conference

NewsHounds:

Between now and Monday's class, please think about our press conference on Wednesday witth President Albrecht.

A press conference is like a group interview. The single subject (in this case, accompanied by USU PR person Tim Vitale) vs. the entire gaggle of reporters. The subject (Albrecht) is there to answer all questions on any topic, although we will focus on USU's budget woes.

In preparation, you all need to read and study and think about at least these background items. Click this one for the article from USUToday, official USU policy/position. Note that there's a blog at the bottom, with a sampling of comment from mostly anonymous students/faculty/staff. You can take questions from that as well.

This is today's lead story in the Herald-Journal, an account of the president's open forum yesterday in the TSC.

Typically, a press conference begins with a statement from the principal (Albrecht), who then opens the floor to questions. We have only 30 minutes, so we (you) need to be prepared with your questions.

Asking questions is an art. You should not ask yes-no questions, because they let the subject off the hook; many reporters learn this lesson when they ask a loooooong question, listening to themselves talk, and then the subject shoots 'em down

Example:
Q: "Mr. President, in light of the recent blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah............, do you think he's right?"
A: "No. Next question."

So you need to come up with tight, simple, open-ended questions that require at least a sentence in response: "Some faculty and staff on campus are concerned that the budget cuts will mean loss of jobs or programs. How worried should they be about that?" or "Would you talk a little more about your thinking—what programs must USU absolutely protect? and which ones are expendable?" or "There are comments on the USU blog about eliminating the football team in order to save money. How would you respond to those who think athletic teams are a drain on university resources?"

And then be prepared to follow up if the answer is unsatisfactory, incomplete or raises new topics. "So does that mean you dismiss those critics as uninformed?" (Note: that's a yes-no question, but a "yes" answer means you can write that the president "dismissed his critics as uninformed." And a no answer requires more than just "No.") Or, "I'd like to follow up, if I may. I'm not clear on your response concerning...... Can you expand on that a bit?" Or, "If I could follow up: You just said that the program might extend to insurance and retirement benefits. How?"

You also may need to cut the president off if he goes on too long, or starts making a speech. You've seen TV interviewers do this. Don't be rude, of course, but look for pauses to jump in.

On Monday, please be prepared to talk about the budget issue and to noodle the kinds of questions we (you) will ask the president to follow up on what we know so far. Write them down and bring them with you. We'll strategize.

And if you come up with more info on the budget issue, or if there are particular questions about the budget shortfall and how it will affect students, especially, let everyone know through NewsHounds.