There’s something about cringeworthy news media interviews that go wrong which political satire programmes find irresistible.
This issue features two fictional media interview disasters which have been the central focus of two different popular TV comedy episodes.
The reason you may find them frighteningly amusing is because we humans recognise how real-life “media response ineptitude” can have spectacularly dire real-life results.
Alas the “media response ineptitude” which is portrayed and parodied so spectacularly within the two shows, inevitably leads to such painful outcomes for those involved that they become hilarious for many viewers.
Both fictional interviews make highly uncomfortable watching – while providing vital media lessons for all of us who live in the real world.
One of the disaster interviews is from the BBC programme “The Thick Of It”.
My attention has been drawn to the major interview disaster of this series because the British news media have been reminding us that “The Thick Of It” was launched onto TV screens 20 years ago this month.
This is clearly well before today’s levels of political correctness – and sensitivities around physical quirks such as excessive blinking by some people when they’re under duress.
Be warned, or reminded, that the show is arguably the most foul-mouthed programme ever to come out of the BBC – with many of the disgustingly sweary rants emanating from the infamous bad-tempered prime ministerial enforcer Malcolm Tucker.
The language of this demented manipulating Scotsman was so challenging to produce that the BBC had to utilise the services of a “swearing consultant” to enable it to script his infamously sordid outbursts.
So within the episode when the particularly atrocious media interview occurs, you can be assured that Malcolm Tucker – and others – had plenty of colourful on-screen things to say about it.
The hapless interviewee in The Thick Of It is junior government minister “Blinky” Ben Swain who struggles to answer a single question.
His performance is all-the-more disastrous because the interview “appears” to be conducted on the high-profile nightly BBC current affairs programme, Newsnight.
Worse still, for Blinky Ben and Malcolm Tucker, the interviewer is the notorious Jeremy Paxman – arguably the toughest and most ruthless BBC TV interrogator ever.
Don’t be fooled by the realism of the Paxman interview within “The Thick Of It”.
Realistic though it may seem, Jeremy Paxman didn’t actually pretend to conduct it specifically for this fictional programme.
It was made to look as if he had done so by the cunning editing of questions taken from the vast stockpile of sneery Paxman interviews stored inside the BBC archives!
The whole of the bad interview episode from “The Thick Of It” remains available online.
And the fact that Blinky Ben performs so badly is accounted for in the scripting in two ways.
Firstly, before the interview Ben Swain makes the point that he has shredded his briefing paper – something that’s not normally a good idea ahead of any media interview …particularly if you haven’t got much of a clue on the subject about which you’re being questioned.
Secondly, we’re also told that Mr Swain must have received some media interview training at some stage by an inept media trainer.
In fact, it’s outrageously suggested by Malcolm Tucker that the evil child killer Myra Hindley was actually responsible for having conducted the media training herself.
But whoever was responsible for the fictional media training of Mr Swain, they clearly hadn’t successfully pointed out that doing intense “mega blinks” while delivering a blathering set of incoherent answers never comes across well on TV.
If you’ve ever wondered what impact a truly terrible media interview can have on both an inept interviewee – and those around him/her – the cast of The Thick Of It convey a profoundly accurate impression of the emotional effect it can have on those watching it unfold before their eyes.
In a news broadcasting environment, it’s always a bad sign when the technical people – who are supposed to be professionally focused on the dials of their recording equipment – start sniggering and adversely commenting on the interviewee.
So the biggest thumbs down for the Blinky Ben interview performance is where Malcolm Tucker exclaims that the cameramen are laughing at him.
It’s not a gentle watch, but – if you’re resilient enough – you can check out the Blinky Ben interview here:
If this fictional interview provokes you into thinking that you or others in your team need to be properly trained in the art of giving great answers to tough real media interview questions to avoid a future company disaster, here’s the place to visit to start getting things sorted.
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media-master-classes/
The next fictional broadcast interview makes for far gentler listening.
But in terms of the underlining the importance of real-life media interview training, it’s no less devastating.
It’s from the BBC’s “Yes, Prime Minister” political comedy series made well before “The Thick Of It”.
The key message from a media training perspective is that when you’re in a broadcasting environment you would be wise to work on the basis that everything you say is potentially being recorded or remembered.
Of course, it would often be seen as highly unethical for a real media organisation to record remarks that were clearly meant only for private consumption and to then broadcast them.
But the learning point conveyed in media interview training sessions is to always, always, always speak judiciously within a radio or TV studio environment.
Alas the fictional victim of not following this rule is the normally discreet Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby.
In the show, after giving a sophisticated-sounding but largely meaningless radio interview, Sir Humphrey – after he thinks the recording has stopped – goes on to voice his more forthright thoughts while being embarrassingly articulate.
Here’s what happens…
One reason we cringe and laugh at the media pickles of Sir Humphrey and Blinky Ben is because the situations they get themselves into can be so easy to avoid – when you’ve been schooled to the point of knowing what you’re doing.
Media interview response training sessions can give you exactly this peace of mind – both the night before your big media interview and the night afterwards.
The sessions also help you and your colleagues project the accurate positive image to the world that you and your company presumably deserve!