I had the opportunity to be a very, very  minor 'public figure' as a Deputy District attorney in a couple of Oregon counties, if 'public figure' includes being questioned for publication by a local or regional newspaper on a very few occasions. 

I did not enjoy those particular experiences with those organizations.   

The level of veracity, degree of thoroughness, lack of subject matter knowledge, and missing attention to detail left me "underwhelmed" (sic).

My experiences in the military did not leave me with a positive viewpoint on that level of  'journalism', either.  

Sensationalism and 'bleed to lead' is too common in that venue as well as having all of the vices noted in my previous  paragraph regarding  the small time press.