NEVER SAY NO COMMENT

NEVER SAY NO COMMENT By Karen Friedman The reporters gathered at the medical center after hearing that a patient might have suffered a severe reaction to a popular product that was recently pulled from the shelves. They had called the medical director and the public relations manager, but their phone calls were not being returned. No one would meet them in the lobby and the security guard was rather rude. While they had very little information, it was 11:45 a.m., just fifteen minutes before the noon news aired and the broadcast journalists would be going LIVE. Radio reporters were already reporting the story and competitive print reporters pointed out that this same pharmaceutical company recently suspended shipments of another product after it was linked to complications in patients. As reporters stood outside drinking coffee and swapping stories in the light rain, they began sharing information and speculating about what was happening at a prestigious company that had recently been linked to other highly publicized product problems. One of the reporters claimed an inside source confirmed the company knew this particular product might be unsafe, but continued to sell it anyway. Media Messaging Moments later, the first report was broadcast: “It appears a patient here at the ABC Medical Center on Wissonoming Street may be seriously ill after taking a product that was recently pulled from the shelves. Look at the expiration date on this box. ...