The right to remain silent
A Reuters story about an Israeli cyber firm selling to Myanmar highlights the reasons why companies decline to comment.
Really good story by Reuters about Israeli cyber intelligence company Cognyte winning a tender to sell intercept spyware to a Myanmar state-backed telecommunications firm a month before the Asian nation's February 2021 military coup. Worth a read. Not a good look for Cognyte, nor for Israel’s defense and foreign affairs establishments.
What I wanted to highlight is how difficult it is to do reporting when a no comment/declined to comment/did not respond to requests for comment is the reaction of people and companies you’re writing about. Take a look at this:
Here are a few reasons why companies who are mentioned in investigative or negative stories decline/do not respond to requests for comment:
Legal concerns: The company may be concerned about the potential legal implications of making a statement, and may want to wait until they have consulted with legal counsel before responding.
Damage control: The company may be trying to limit the potential damage to their reputation by not commenting, in the hopes that the story will not gain as much traction or generate as much negative publicity.
Gathering information: The company may not have all of the information needed to respond to the accusations, and may be conducting an internal investigation in order to gather more information.
Protecting trade secrets or competitive information: Company may not want to reveal sensitive business information that would put them at a disadvantage.
Avoiding speculation: Company may not want to make any statement that would put them in a position where their statement would be interpreted in a way that would put them in a negative light.
Company policy: Some companies may have a policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations or legal matters.
//and now for something completely different//
Yeah that’s the worst I’ve ever seen that guy look.
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Is there a Nobel Prize for completely made-up consulting jargon that means practically nothing? There should be. And Accenture should win it.
