Since I started blogging in October, 2004 and especially since I joined the ranks of the Sports Economist, I have had several requests to be interviewed on various subjects. It's difficult, I'm sure, for the interviewer to have to listen to me, an economist, give a view on some subject. To him, I'm sure it sounds like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth and he's probably wishing that I had only one hand (on the one hand... on the other hand). Then again, I'm an economist. We think of the world in terms of costs and benefits (on the one hand there are costs and on the other hand there are benefits).
One fear I have is getting interviewed and being misquoted. My favorite example comes from my Mizzou days when I spoke about the Keynesian multiplier and I got quoted as referring to the "Steamroller effect." Maybe I used the term "steamroller." I don't think I did. But my coworkers pasted pictures of steamrollers around the office just to make sure I wouldn't forget.
Recently I got interviewed by a fellow who was writing on stadium issues. He was thoughtful enough to call me back to verify what he had written that I said. When he read it, I had about 24 hours to think about his original question and I didn't like what I originally said. He reminded me what I had said, but I explained to him why I had changed my thoughts. Basically, it was as if I had reread a draft of a paper and made some editorial changes.
While I'm a bit more relaxed when I get interviewed, I still get a bit uneasy that I'll get misquoted. I've taken to talking real slow (to give the interviewer time to write/type what I said) and I've taken to writing the question down since writing forces me to think about something.