Sometimes you’ve done all you could. You explained everything clearly to a reporter before they showed up at the school. You gave them plenty of written materials for them to use as a reference. They visited the school, and you spent two hours demonstrating moves for them. You made the follow-up call to see if they had additional questions.

But it wasn’t enough.

This can happen from time to time. Sometimes journalists made mistakes – they’re only human after all. Or sometimes, you happen to encounter a lazy writer. Just like any profession, there are some lousy journalists. I should know. While I’ve made a number of mistakes over the course of my career in journalism that I would attribute mostly to human error, I’ve also worked with some terrible writers.

Here’s a hypothetical example. After all your hard work, the reporter still writes an article that doesn’t reflect any of the good information you gave them. I don’t mean to scare you – I don’t think this happens very often. But just like fight training, sometimes you need to prepare for the worst to ensure things don’t fall apart if something unexpected happens – some guys don’t like to fight from their backs in MMA fights, but you can be sure that they train plenty of guard techniques in case they get put there.

So if the reporter writes a lame article and compares what you are doing to barroom brawling, take a deep breath. All is not lost. Hopefully there are still some positive aspects to the article that can draw people to your school. Someone looking for an MMA school would likely still see the article and having seen reporters butcher MMA-related articles many times already, would still come check out your school.

But you want to correct the misconceptions – even if it’s just a matter of a few small things.

Don’t handle it by calling up the reporter and yelling at them. It won’t make things any better. Nobody likes to be yelled at, and when the person in question doesn’t work for your, or is not, say, your dog, it’s not likely to accomplish more much than having the phone hung up in your ear.

A better approach is writing a letter – email is fine and in fact is probably preferable – thanking the publication for the article. Say that you appreciated being featured in their publication, but are concerned that there were a few mistakes – while you’re being polite, don’t shy away from letting them know that there were errors.

The first thing an editor will consider when confronted by being notified of a problem with an article is to ask whether it is a big enough deal to correct in print. I have seen this first hand many times. Frankly, an editor would like to avoid having to run a correction if he or she can – after all, who likes to admit they were wrong if they don’t have to – but a good one won’t hesitate to run a correction on an issue as small as a misspelling of a name. If you can clearly explain where they went wrong with the facts, you should have no problem getting a correction.

Find out who the editor is, and get their email address. This should be clear from the pages of the paper, but if not, give them a call and let them know you want to send an email to the editor about a correction. They should give you the name and contact info that you need without any problem.


Here’s a sample of what a letter to the editor could look like:

Dear (Editor’s name here):

I appreciated the recent article on my jiu-jitsu academy. I hope that it can help spread the word about this exciting martial art, which is rapidly gaining popularity due to the physical fitness and self defense skills gained by those who practice it.

However, I was concerned that the article repeated some common misconceptions about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It is far from the blood sport depicted in your pages. In fact, one of the reasons that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is so useful to those who seek to defend themselves from an attack on the street or win in an ultimate fighting event is that it is safe and gentle to practice.

Unlike other martial arts that rely on painful striking, eye-pokes, groin kicks and “death blows,” Brazilian jiu-jitsu is effective precisely because it can be practiced at full speed without the fear of major injury.

Thank you again for your interest in our school.

Sincerely,

(Your name, followed by the address of the school)



I know it sounds corny, but you have now “taken a lemon and turned it into lemonade.”

You have corrected the misconception for those who saw the article, and those who didn’t see the article have gotten a brief glimpse at what makes your school great.

Even if you feel that you need to tick off a few things – they spelled your name wrong, misidentified one of the student’s jobs, etc., don’t hesitate to let them know – running that correction is like another piece of free advertising for your school; less detailed than an article, but a nice reminder to people that your school is out there. Just take a deep breath before you write.