The Media Interview

In the final hours of the 2008 presidential election, third-party candidate Ralph Nader held a press conference at which he would only reply to questions with single-word answers. MSNBC.com’s Bob Sullivan reported the encounter at Washington’s National Press Club this way:
The stilted question-and-answer session felt at times like a bad game of “Jeopardy.” Reporters [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. Asked about [...]

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin simply got up and left in the middle of an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row program, leaving presenter John Wilson and the band’s drummer Will Champion to carry on:
Wilson: Do you start with that idea, Chris… [sound in background] did you start with the song Viva La Vida, [...]

The worlds of US politics and journalism are still reeling from the sudden death on Friday of Meet the Press host Tim Russert. The 58 year old Washington bureau chief for NBC news had just finished taping The Tim Russert Show for CNBC and was working on voice-overs for Sunday’s Meet the Press when [...]

Comedy writer Mike Snider has a great list of RADARs that people possess. It’s a take off on the notion of Gay-Dar, the ability immediately to know if someone is gay or straight. The list is hilarious, but this one jumped out to someone obsessed with media interviews:
ReallyFarDar - ability of spokespeople for [...]

A fascinating new trend in interviewing has emerged during the course of the US presidential primaries: the live-to-web editorial board interview. Sitting around the table with editors of a media outlet is a long-standing tradition, but the idea of streaming it live over the internet adds some interesting new dimensions.
Take the editorial board meeting [...]

Author Carl Weisman blogs about his experiences as a published writer, including doing media interviews:
Wow! That was intense. Imagine doing twelve interviews in one morning, including four 10 minute interviews back to back without a break. If you ever find yourself doing radio publicity for one of your books you just may [...]