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 [...]

The LPGA has created quite a stir by announcing that starting in 2009 all golfers on the tour must demonstrate proficiency in English within two years of joining or face suspension. Part of the impetus behind the rule is to improve media interviews for non-English speaking players, according to Golf Week magazine: Betsy Clark, LPGA [...]

Fascinating issue brewing in Hamilton, Ontario, where a recording and transcript of an “off the record” media interview with the city’s mayor have been released to some media outlets. In that interview with Hamilton Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel, Mayor Fred Eisenberger apparently reveals some sensitive information from an in-camera council meeting. Dreschel won’t confirm or [...]

Ahh, such promise for freedom of the press during the 2008 Olympics in this headline from the Guardian: Beijing promises open media environment for Olympics Then we find out that it means this: “BOCOG will apply a zero refusal policy for interview requests, which means that all requests for interviews will be replied to,” the [...]

I have to empathize a little with Mercades Nichols, the 17 year old Florida girl who is one of several defendants in the case of a videotaped beating that got major play on YouTube and the media in general. Nichols tried to get bail restrictions eased last week, in part to allow her to speak [...]

A week or so ago I mentioned the controversy over statements made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a taped encounter with journalist Tom Zytaruk in 2005 in the driveway of MP Chuck Cadman’s widow’s home. The statements allegedly showed Harper acknowledging that payments had been offered to Cadman when he was alive in [...]

I saw an accomplished scuba diver being interviewed the other day and one of the opening questions was: how many dives have you done over the years? She hesitated for some time and then began saying how she hadn’t kept accurate logs, etc. If you find yourself being asked for numbers or statistics – consider [...]

Hopefully after winning a contest worth $15,000 you wouldn’t have anything bad to say about your Sponsor in media interviews, but just to be safe… Winner must comply with all Contest rules as published. Winner agrees to conduct any and all media interviews related to the Contest, if requested, and not to disparage Sponsor during [...]

Having just written about the growth of TV cameras in radio studios and the need to watch what you say during commercials breaks, comes this story from KESQ TV: The male escort responsible for the downfall of Christian evangelist leader Ted Haggard is now alleging that embattled Senator Larry Craig also came to see him. [...]

I’ve posted before about the fact that publishing things on a blog is akin to having an interview published in a magazine or aired on radio or TV – be prepared to have yourself quoted by others. Now it’s common practice for journalists to write stories quoting someone from a variety of other sources, but [...]