Don’t take this personally, Savannah, but I might have been more comfortable in the ditch with that alligator than I am right now.
Well, now. That’s the way NBC’s Today Show host Savannah Guthrie started her day. Those were the first words out of the mouth of scientist Fred Boyce, an über-reluctant guest on this morning’s (Friday, May 18, 2012) broadcast.
One of my many duties as a public relations “expert” was to media train executives who were required to go on camera for live interviews. As one might guess, the majority of those interviews were precipitated by some PR crisis that required damage control. The execs were taught to speak in sound bites and answer only the question asked (unless s/he didn’t want to; then we taught them to sidestep it and answer the question THEY wished they had been asked.)
Savannah Guthrie seems like a sweetheart of a woman, but she is a member of the stealth crew commonly known as journalists. I was both amused and sympathetic as I watched this interview unfold:
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Just got done watching this interview. Yes...consultants, such as yourself, have a priceless example now about how NOT to conduct one's self in an interview! Wow! And he thought the camera phone recording the incident was bad?
ReplyDeleteI can just hear him saying "I TOLD them I didn't want to go on camera!!!!!" I can also hear the laughter in the studio when Savannah finally put him out of her misery. :D
DeleteHe sure was "chatty" for not wanting to be interviewed...
ReplyDelete