The Media Interview

There are three possible explanations for GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s poor showing in her first two major media interviews: 1) she is receiving no media coaching 2) she’s receiving very poor media coaching or 3) she’s receiving good media coaching and is not yet able to implement it. What is even more startling than [...]

U.S. Senator Trent Lott gives a very clear example of the “Sorry, but the answer will have to wait until I make my point first” technique for handling live interviews: BLITZER: I know you have concerns about this troop increase going forward in Iraq. But I just want you to spell out what your concerns [...]

I was just listening to the radio, and the host begins the interview by asking what the author thinks about the issue raised in an interview just before the news break. Time for some quick bridging!! In this case, at least, there was some connection between the two interviews – one was about parenting and [...]

Someone recently emailed to ask if I was related to Roy Plomley, the creator of the long-running BBC radio show Desert Island Discs (his name is often misspelled as Plumley, hence the question). Here’s my answer: I am not related to Roy Plomley. Speaking of Roy Plomley, his radio program Desert Island Discs can be [...]

I’m not sure how straight many of the answers were 20 years ago – questions were just avoided with less pinache perhaps – but this journalist makes a good point about the effects of media training on political interviews: …twenty years ago you could interview people and ask them straight questions and have a reasonable [...]