The Media Interview

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.

While promoting his new book during a radio interview with KNWQ-AM in Palm Springs Wednesday night, Mike Jones hesitated from making the allegation on the air.

Management for the radio station says Jones told them he would reveal something about Idaho Senator Larry Craig on the “Bulldog Bill Feingold Show.”

While he hesitated doing so on the air, a NewsChannel 3 camera was rolling when he made the accusation during a commercial break. [my emphasis]

Of course one always has to ask if the interviewee is deliberately playing to the TV camera or if they truly forgot it was rolling.

The days of hiding behind the microphone in a radio studio are long gone, at least for anyone in the public eye. Either the video media is covering the interview, or the station itself is making a video, or it’s even being simulcast over the web or some TV channel. Just look at the number of videos on YouTube that were shot during a radio interview.

So, what do you do? First, always ask whether an in-studio radio interview is going to be on video. If it is, dress for TV and not for radio. Still talk to your radio listener and don’t talk to any cameras. It’s always important to assume the microphone is ON while you’re in a radio studio - now you have to assume that the cameras are always rolling too.

In an article entitled The King of All Media vs. the Shameless Marketing Guru, Debbie Allen talks about her unique way of preparing to be interviewed by shock jock Howard Stern:

Knowing the interview would be a challenge, Debbie asked a previous guest of the show to coach her before the interview. She soon discovered that by connecting with Howard’s interest and listening to other guests that she could not only survive the interview, but also thrive from the massive media exposure. [my emphasis]

I thought this was an excellent strategy for potentially difficult interviews: to track down a previous guest or two and pick their brains about what did and did not work with that host. As Allen noted elsewhere in the article, part of what can be difficult on Stern’s show is that there are at least two if not three people “hosting” at one time, which just adds to the difficulties.

How did Allen do on the show? According to her, she managed to “thrive”:

The interview started with a negative tone but soon Debbie turned it around in her favor. Howard Stern, a shameless self-promoter himself, wanted to share with his listeners more information on how they too can become famously successful. As Howard learned more about Debbie’s marketing strategies and strong belief system he began to promote the book and the Website.

Preparing for a live television interview is tough. Even if you’ve had a lot of experience on TV, every situation is different enough - even down to the way you’re seated - that you need to be well prepared to handle what comes at you. Even then, there’s always something more…

The other day a client of mine faced the following:

1. As they were counting down to going live he was told that the 6 minute interview had been cut to 3 minutes.

2. The opening question was about his product when he’d been told minutes before that they didn’t want to “do a commercial” and the focus would be on the social issues surrounding the product.

3. The host began nudging him below the desk trying to get him to look at the desk monitor after telling him earlier not to be distracted by what’s on the desk monitor - someone in the control room had decided to play some clips from the product they didn’t want him to talk much about…

Lesson learned: Live interviews - TV in particular - are highly unpredictable and no matter how well prepared you are, you also need to be prepared for the “unpreparable”. There, you’ve had your daily dose of the paradoxical.