Handling no comment situations with care
Launch library · evergreen read
There are entirely legitimate reasons an organisation cannot comment on a particular matter, whether due to genuine legal constraints, an ongoing investigation or simple, honest uncertainty about the facts involved at that point in time. Handling this well means explaining, where genuinely possible, why comment is not currently available rather than offering a bare refusal that can easily read as evasive.
A flat no comment, offered without any real context attached to it, tends to be interpreted by both journalists and audiences in the least favourable possible light available to them. Where circumstances genuinely allow, briefly explaining the actual reason for withholding comment, even in fairly general terms, tends to be received far more understandingly than silence alone ever manages.
Whenever a genuine no comment situation exists, it is worth committing clearly to follow up once circumstances actually allow, and then honouring that specific commitment when the moment finally arrives. A journalist who receives a promised follow up is far more likely to extend real patience the next time a similar situation occurs down the line.