The Media Interview

Whether you like it or not, this is a common viewpoint in the mainstream media:
Given the choice between the top expert in the world with a dry delivery and someone who knew a little about the topic but could speak about it comfortably in lay terms, a producer would always pick the latter. [TV producer [...]

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: there is only one thing worse than missing an interview, and that’s missing an interview and having the non-interview posted on a blog for everyone to hear. Listen to 17 minutes of on-hold music while the interviewer waits for his guest (who never picked up); then the interviewer starts [...]

Part of what I do on this blog is track the definition of “media” because that helps us all understand what constitutes a media interview. In a post about the future of newspapers, Jack Shafer loosely defines journalism as:
words and graphics about current events deliverable on tight deadline to a mass audience
which, of course, [...]

Repeating a key message or the name of a product during an interview is something of an art, but I always warn people: don’t sound like that Head On commercial. In case you haven’t seen it, the infamous 30 second TV spot does nothing but repeat the name and slogan three times. It’s [...]

Every day, school teachers and university professors have to present hours of material to audiences of students and yet do they receive any training on the art of good vocal presentation? UK teacher Sue Seifert and actor Brian Blessed, in this BBC Breakfast interview, think they should. Sadly, Blessed offers little insight, but [...]

Came across this curious tidbit:
Olympic snowboarding champion Shaun White graduated in 2005 from Carlsbad Seaside Academy, where he received art credit for designing a pro model snowboard with his sponsor, Burton.
Part of the Carlsbad public school system, Seaside was founded in 1998 for successful students. White… was the first action sports star to attend. Credit [...]

I always enjoy a good myth-busting, and while some of the ones in this post from Cheryl Shuman may no longer be myths - having been busted a lot recently - she does offer up many good quotes from top media trainers. I’ve included a couple here:
Myth #2: If you don’t want to answer [...]

I really felt for this guy posting on Blogs Canada:
[The cameraperson] had me do all this walking and in front of the computer stuff. That was the “non interview” portion. When the segment is produced, they need you to “fake” walking or some other “filler” activity so that the reporter can talk over that film [...]

It’s common for broadcast media to conduct a “pre-interview” by phone or possibly in person to decide if they’re going to put someone on-air. Don’t make the mistake of treating this as an ordinary conversation. The producers want to see what you’d be like as a guest, so you have to be “on”. [...]

If you read the paper by Pope Benedict XVI which has sparked violence from some Muslims, you’ll understand that he was quoted out of context - or rather, his quoting of a 14th century dialogue was taken out of context. But Johnathan Freedland says in the Guardian Unlimited that “certain roles or positions of [...]