Try to see the reporter in person rather than talking over the phone. Tell the reporter you will call back in 15 minutes or so. Collect your thoughts and then follow through on your promise to provide an interview. Have a message. Prepare a single communications objective and two or three secondary points you want to make, regardless of the questions you're asked.
Reporters often frame their questions to bring out the conflict in a story.
Don't fan controversy. If they're not the questions you'd prefer to respond to, address them briefly and segue to what you want to say. Use simple language , rather than technical terms, and speak in short sentences. Eight seconds is the average length of a TV soundbite. Be friendly, but don't be lulled into flippancy or forced humor.