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 [...]

ABC News posted a promo for an interview with Sarah Palin and the headline makes quite a leap from what’s in even the limited transcript released by ABC. The headline says Palin “vows to remain player in 2012″ although in the partial transcript, when asked if the criticism she’s received makes her want to go [...]

The website Media Matters says CNN “deceptively cropped” the June 29th Face the Nation interview with retired General Wesley Clark during a report on its American Morning show June 30th. Here’s the Media Matters transcript of the CNN video clip: CLARK [video clip]: That large squadron in the Air — in the Navy that he [...]

A comment by one of presidential candidate John McCain’s advisors, quoted in a Fortune magazine article, has created quite a stir and raises an interesting issue about the transparency of media interviews. Here’s part of the LA Times story on the comments by Charlie Black: Then, the longtime political pro got a bit too honest. [...]

Freelance writer Hrag Vartanian blogs about being misquoted: I was interviewed by Steve Malanga for a recent profile of Bushwick, Brooklyn for City Journal and found this paragraph that proved to me (yet again) that you should always be cautious about giving interviews, even to nice guys–which Steve obviously is: Some early arrivals claim that [...]

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 heard a headline on CNN the other day that made me curious. New York Rep. Peter King allegedly said there were too many mosques in the United States, but he claimed he was being taken out of context. The remarks were said to be in an interview with Politico.com, so I immediately brought it [...]

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 [...]

Ben Silverman, a former journalist who writes a column for PR Fuel, tells this story of a reporter getting things wrong – then offers ten tips to try and minimize such problems: I was two beers into my weekend last Friday when a reporter from the West Coast called to confirm something with me. I [...]

I just posted about the controversy surrounding the demand by Angelina Jolie’s lawyers that journalists sign a contract outlining the scope and rules of any interview with the star at the premiere of her latest movie A Mighty Heart. There’s another story here, though, about the way the media works. I cited a number of [...]