Use humor to defuse confrontational situations. Choose your words carefully and well. They will likely be reported as you say them. If a critical or controversial story is going to be written anyway, your point of view should be in the story. Silence is not always golden.
Repetition is the essence of retention.
The public will remember what they see, hear, and read repeatedly in the media. Once a story is out that you don't like, it is usually too late and fruitless to correct it. Use objective and authoritative sources of information to back up your statements to reporters, if you can. Don't make charges you can't back up or make stick. Try to anticipate questions.