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Interview Tips: Bridge to Prevention

Media stories can save lives! A news story about a residential fire provides a valuable opportunity to give your community a safety message during a teachable moment. Dropping prevention tips and facts into your interview just might save a life!

The goal of talking with the news media is not just to answer a reporter's questions effectively. It is also to communicate a few key messages that are accurate, clear, and concise. Keep answers to 27 words or less when conducting taped TV interviews.

"Bridging" allows you to answer a reporter's question while also highlighting prevention tips related to the particular fire event. For instance, if there were no smoke alarms in the home, you could talk about the importance of smoke alarms. If a family survived the fire unharmed because they had practiced their escape plan, you could talk about the need for all families to make and practice a fire escape plan. Keep prevention messages closely linked to the current fire story; the more tailored the message, the more likely the media will be interested.

When to Use Bridging

A home fire, especially one in which someone has died, is a tragic event in a community. An on-scene interview might not be the best time to talk about the larger issues behind home fires. There might not be enough information confirmed, or you might feel the time just isn't right. But in many cases, and for any second-day or follow-up story, it is very appropriate to voice a basic prevention message, however small.

During a breaking news event, lay the groundwork for a follow-up or second-day story. Give your name and number to reporters and ask them to call you the next day for more information. Or get reporters' contact information and call them the next day. During follow-up interviews, use bridging to encourage second-day stories that focus more on safety and prevention than on details of the fire. And remember, you can talk about fire safety after a tragic event without blaming the victims or the community. Give your message a positive spin-for example, "We can work together to make sure a tragedy like this doesn't happen again. Fires can be prevented, and just a few easy steps can keep you and your family safe."

How Bridging Works

Say you're asked to comment on whether the home had a working smoke alarm, and you don't know. One response might be, "We don't know whether this home had a smoke alarm, or whether it was working. But that raises an important point - People can cut their risk of dying in a fire in half by having working smoke alarms on every floor of their home, outside of every sleeping area, and in every bedroom."

Or, if you're asked to confirm that a fire was started by a cigarette, rather than simply answering yes or no, you could add, "Before we continue, let me emphasize that people should never smoke in bed or put ashtrays on the arms of sofas or chairs."

If your community has fire prevention activities underway, such as a smoke alarm installation program, you can use bridging to mention that, too. As the interview wraps up, you might say, "And that reminds me - our department offers free smoke alarms installation and education. Just call us if you need a smoke alarm or want to know more."

Giving the news media information they can share with the public about fire prevention can improve the safety of people in your community.

Examples of bridging
transition statements

• “And what's most important to know/remember is…”
• “With this in mind, if we look at the bigger picture…”
• “Let me put all this in perspective by saying…”
• “What all this information tells me is…”
• “Before we continue, let me emphasize that…”
• “This is an important point because…”
• “And as I said before, …”
• “Let me just add that…”
• “Let me point out again that…”
• “Another thing to remember is…”
• “Before we leave the subject, let me add that…”
• “The key point for people to remember is…”