What happens when journalists focus all of their attention on one aspect of a story? Their readers, viewers and listeners – your audience as an interviewee – can lose sight of the bigger picture.
So Richard Uridge has recruited a very famous pair of hands to help him explain how you can avoid being driven solely by the questions you might be asked during a #mediainterview
He’s used the controversy over #ULEZ and an interview given by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as a case study.
Look out for the enigmatic smile in this the latest episode in the Z to A of #mediatraining which, we should add, is equally applicable to the Q and A element of a #presentation
Here’s the full interview with Sadiq Khan that I refer to in this video. It was first transmitted on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and the copyright remains with the BBC. Khan does successfully steer the first question towards the bigger picture. But his opening response, timed at just over a minute, represents only 11% of the interview. He did try to return to the bigger picture towards the end but he was talking about the compelling health case for ULEZ only 18% of the whole interview – too little time for what is literally a life and death issue.
The interviewer is Mishal Husain and in her opening question she’s referring to Irene Bacon, one of those who drives an older, non-compliant car, is in a lower paid job and is struggling to pay the ULEZ charge or switch to a less polluting vehicle – even with the incentive scheme.