The Media Interview

Dealing with the editing of media interviews is never an easy question. Take this post from a conservative blogger’s take on what happened to Alaskan governor Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential race:

Her campaign staff fumbled her introduction to the nation. Her initial interviews were cut by hostile editors in order to make her look stupid. She should never agree to do any left media interviews again unless they are broadcast live. This is a good rule for all American conservatives to follow. If a live broadcast isn’t possible, they should insist on full rights so they can post uncut interviews on their own internet sites. [my emphasis]

I can’t think of any media outlet that would grant publishing rights to, let alone provide a copy of, the full uncut interview. What’s encouraging is that more and more interviews are being posted online in full, even by the mainstream media. True, this tends to be limited to small market outlets, but it’s a start.

But there’s a simpler answer to the problem posed by this blogger – record every interview yourself, on video if possible, but at least on audio. Then you’ve got a complete transcript that you can post in the event of things going badly in the edited version.

And remember that live interviews have their own pitfalls too.