The Media Interview

Bobby Jindal stays on message about substance over delivery

george — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:05:25 +0000

Bobby Jindal quoted by Stephanie Grace one month before his badly-delivered response to President Obama’s speech to Congress on February 24, 2009: Jindal said that, in effect, the GOP should stop fretting over the identity of its next standard bearer. “We have to not worry about the messenger, ” he said, “and start focusing on the substance.” and [...]

Everyone’s an expert

george — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:52:17 +0000

I was blogging about the use of Skype to economically bring in anyone to a satellite interview. Then the question is, who do you bring in? Sadly, it’s being used right now to bring us yet another “voice of the people.” Instead of bringing in more and diverse experts, we’re Skyping anybody [...]

The Skype’s the limit

george — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:10:53 +0000

The television industry has, over the years, developed an intricate network of satellite feeds and other means to create what we’ve taken for granted over the last decade or so: the satellite interview or discussion. Now Skype and other internet video technologies are making that intricate network almost obsolete, overnight. Take a look [...]

Jeremy Paxman on good u-turns by interviewees

george — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:30:36 +0000

A common tactic by interviewers is to find a quote from the past which contradicts what the person now says. Catching out someone making a u-turn is generally perceived as a “gotcha” moment, but I thought it was interesting that famed British TV interviewer Jeremy Paxman - known for some gotcha moments of his [...]

An amazing interview archive

george — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:35:00 +0000

To borrow from an old expression - I wish I’d built that. I’m referring to Access Interviews, a site begun last year by British journalist Rob McGibbon, which aims to archive links to all types of media interviews anywhere on the web. And you’re invited to submit interviews for inclusion in the archive. The [...]

Putting the brakes on guests, Don Newman style

george — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:24:49 +0000

Great bit on interviewers interrupting guests. Don Newman is a well-known Canadian political interviewer and recently on the comedy show The Rick Mercer Report, they did a parody commercial selling a DVD boxed set of Don Newman’s greatest political shutdowns.

Under the magnifying glass of public life

george — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:48:25 +0000

My neighbour is running for city councillor and his wife was telling me about the first all-candidates meeting he attended. She was shocked at how little things get magnified when you’re in the public eye. For instance, while her husband was listening to other candidates, he was grimacing and frowning, and she realized [...]

Can you find these interviews with J.K. Rowling?

george — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:57:54 +0000

Billing itself as “the largest archive of J.K. Rowling interviews on the web” (and when you see it you’ll have no doubt it is), the website Accio Quote! asks fans of the writer to be “canon nifflers” and help find obscure interviews to round out the collection. Any interview nifflers out there? (I am informed [...]

Dealing with the uncertainties of edited media interviews

george — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:58:52 +0000

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 [...]

Forget satellite split-screens, try a hologram

george — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:57:53 +0000

Missed this during CNN’s election coverage, but on November 4 they pulled off a television first - they brought someone into studio via hologram. Correspondent Jessica Yellin was in Chicago, but she was “beamed” into the Washington studio with Wolf Blitzer. As a tip of the hat to Star Trek (and good old [...]