To prepare for a reporter who is digging into your company, put the reporter's questions or interview request, their recent coverage of your sector, the facts behind each topic they raise, and your draft responses into one request. Then instruct Pingpong to take the reporter's side: reconstruct the story they are probably writing, infer what sources and documents they may already have, and write the follow-up each of your answers would trigger. Ask which answers would hold up, which would become the headline, and what your board should hear before you reply.
This page is for chief executives, founders, and communications leads who have received written questions or an interview request from a beat or investigative reporter. It comes before you decide whether and how to respond. If you agree to talk, war-game the media interview next. Executive starting points live under Pingpong for executives.
Read the questions as evidence
A reporter's questions often reveal more than they ask. A question that quotes a specific figure suggests access to a document. A question about a particular quarter suggests a former employee who worked there then. A question framed as a yes or no usually means the reporter already believes the answer. Asking Pingpong to read the questions this way helps you respond to the story being written, instead of the questions one at a time.
Four ways to respond
- Answer in writing. You control the wording, though short answers can read as evasive.
- Offer a call with the right executive. Useful when a topic needs explanation, such as a revenue definition.
- Correct the premise. Show where a question rests on a mistaken fact, with evidence.
- Decline with a statement. Sometimes right, but the story will usually run anyway with your refusal in it.
A worked example
This example is illustrative and does not describe a customer. A 300-person HR software company receives eight written questions from a trade reporter with a deadline of Thursday at 5 p.m. The questions cover customer churn and a claim from former sales staff that the company counted pilot contracts as recurring revenue when it announced its last funding round.
The chief executive pastes the questions, the reporter's last ten articles, the revenue policy, the churn figures, the relevant board memo, and draft answers prepared by the communications lead.
A useful pass starts by reconstructing the story: growth claims at a funded startup were overstated, according to former employees. Two questions quote a churn figure for a single quarter that matches an internal sales dashboard, which suggests the reporter has seen it or spoken with someone who has. The reporter's recent articles include two similar pieces about other companies, both of which ran with a "declined to comment" line.
Then the follow-ups. The draft answer says the company "has never counted pilots as recurring revenue." The board memo shows that for two quarters, paid pilots above a size threshold were counted, and the policy changed before the funding announcement. A reporter holding the old dashboard would publish the contradiction. The draft response to the churn questions says the company does not comment on internal metrics, which will likely appear as the article's final line. Nobody has told the board or the lead investor that the questions arrived.
The chief executive changes the approach before replying. The revenue answer describes the old policy, the date it changed, and the figure used in the funding announcement, and the chief financial officer offers a call to walk the reporter through the definition. The churn answer gives an annual range and explains the quarter the reporter cited. Counsel reviews both answers. The board chair and lead investor receive the questions and the planned replies the day before the deadline.
A request you can copy
Below are questions a reporter has sent our company, their recent coverage, the facts behind each topic, and our draft answers. Act as this reporter. Describe the story you are most likely writing, what sources or documents you probably have, and the follow-up question each of our answers would prompt. Flag any answer that a document or former employee could contradict, and any line likely to end up as the headline or closing quote. Recommend which questions to answer in writing, which need a call, and who inside the company and on our board should know before we reply.
For a written announcement you control from the start, see war-game a press release before the announcement goes out.
How Pingpong runs the role-play
The web review app sends your request through several models in order. Each later model receives the original request and every earlier answer, with instructions to assess the work so far. Treat its guesses about the reporter's sources as hypotheses to check internally. For the steps inside the app, see running your first review.
What a model can't role-play
A model does not know who the reporter has spoken to, what documents they hold, or how their editor will shape the piece. Legal exposure, employment matters, and disclosure obligations belong with your general counsel.
If the story could prompt a board discussion, see war-game a decision before the board meeting. More guides live under work decisions before you commit.