a single source, nothing corroborates it

Answer in writing and expect no corrections

Ask for the interview over email, because a transcript protects both sides and reporters push for a call precisely because people cannot recall their own words under pressure. Published errors mostly stay: a wrong funding figure, a misspelled investor and an omitted six figure sum went unfixed despite repeated mails. When a piece is factually wrong, correct it in its own comments, warmly, thanking the writer and citing sources, because you still need them.

The method

1. 01

   Ask for the interview in writing, because email leaves both sides a transcript and hands you back control of the wording.

2. 02

   Expect published errors about your company to go uncorrected, and plan your publishing around that rather than relying on a fix.

3. 03

   Correct a factually wrong piece publicly in its own comments: thank the writer, list the errors, cite your sources and stay warm about it.

What it returned

• $1.25m

  One piece reported Moz's funding as $1.25m when it was $1.1m, misspelled the investor and omitted $100K from another firm, and was never updated despite repeated emails; another invented a funding round and got the business model, headcount, membership numbers and revenue wrong before being quietly replaced.

• Rand Fishkin says journalists push hard for a call or a meeting precisely because people cannot recall their exact words or dodge an awkward question live, and because your demeanour then becomes material the writer can characterise.

• Rand Fishkin's reasoning is that you still need the press on your side, so nothing petty and no implication that they failed to do their research.

Sources

• A Healthy Dose of Fear is Appropriate When Dealing with the Press - SparkToroRand Fishkin · sparktoro.com · 2012-04-16