The Media Interview

Being the first standing US president to appear on a TV talk show has its rewards and its dangers.  The danger came in the form of an inappropriate remark about the Special Oympics which drew immediate criticism.  The reward came in the form of a lengthy, often substantive interview worthy of the Newshour watched by a huge audience that PBS could never deliver.

Obama took a gamble when he agreed to be interviewed on a show where, the day before, Reese Witherspoon got big YouTube play for doing fart jokes with Leno.  The gamble lay in the fact that talk shows like Leno’s are meant to entertain, the atmosphere is ultra-relaxed and the point of opening one’s mouth is to get a laugh or to titillate or to shock.  Obama accidently did the latter when he responded to Leno’s chuckling at his 129 bowling score by saying it was “like the Special Olympics or something.”

If you saw the entire 24 minute interview you would know that Leno did some surprisingly hard questioning of Obama’s economic policies and Obama gave explanations which were being used by other news organizations as if they were taking clips from 60 minutes. But it was six words that made the big headlines, and with good reason. The remark was highly inappropriate and the White House was doing damage control on Air Force One before the show even aired. [Living on the West coast I knew of the remark well in advance of the show and was listening for it - I still had trouble hearing what was said in the flow of the conversation, although seeing it in the clip it stands out a lot more]

I talk a lot on this blog about being focused in an interview and the danger of a format like the Tonight Show is that it breeds a lack of focus – it’s fun, it’s relaxed, it’s like you’re sitting around at a party chatting (except for the millions watching you). It’s easier for things to come out of your mouth that might not otherwise. Which of course is what makes it the more troubling if something inappropriate does come out – people wonder if that’s what you’re really thinking.

Shows like 60 Minutes go out of their way to try and get interviewees into a late night talk show frame of mind, so that they’ll reveal something they would never reveal if they stayed focus. Maybe adding a band would make things easier.