6th August 2020
“I thought I’d just ignore it”
“I thought I'd just ignore it,” he told me. There are many cases where I’m sure this is absolutely the best policy. Junk mail. A minor insect bite. An insult from someone you don’t care about. But an approach from an investigative BBC journalist isn’t one of them. I was a bit surprised the other day when I first got the call the other day to ...
19th October 2018
Walking off camera – huge blunder for Persimmon boss
What a blunder for Persimmon CEO, Jeff Fairburn, to walk off camera this morning when politely asked by the BBC about his £75M bonus. Clearly his bonus wasn't what he intended to be there to talk about. And, having been awarded some while back, it isn't news. But - as the biggest ever paid in ....
1st June 2018
Terrible TV interview from Defence Secretary
I've never thought of Richard Madeley as a hard-hitting interviewer before. But he wasn't going to let Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson off the hook without answering a straight question this week about his comments that Russia should "shut up and go away" following ...
2nd May 2018
Latest media interview lesson: know when the camera is on!
Sainsbury's CEO, Mike Coupe, learnt one of the most basic media interview lessons the hard way this week: make sure you know when the camera's on! In case you missed it, while waiting for his ITV interview about ...
18th September 2017
Another ‘instructive’ media interview!
Last week gave us another astonishing media interview - with more lessons of what not to do. Irish channel RTE interviewed John O’Keeffe of the Garda Representative Association about an investigation which found the Irish police have been falsifying breath test data. O’Keeffe looked calm enough, but ...
5th September 2017
Lord Bell on Newsnight – lessons from another car crash interview
See the cringe-worthy interview with Tim Bell on Newsnight yesterday? Bell was interviewed by Kirsty Wark about the fall from grace of the Bell Pottinger PR firm he founded because of the shameful campaign it ran to stoke racial hatred in South Africa. It seems incredible that a figure with 50 years in the PR industry ...
3rd May 2017
Excruciating media interview lesson from Diane Abbott
LBC Radio's interview with Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott yesterday brilliantly underlines the importance of one of the fundamental rules of effective media interviews: make sure you know your core facts.
10th March 2017
How to handle live TV interviews – a hilarious reminder!
Everyone knows the first rule for conducting a successful media interview is: Be Prepared.
27th September 2016
Crisis for Concentrix: the mistake of not showing up
Another week, another lesson in how not to manage a deepening crisis of failures and mismanagement ...
9th September 2016
Southern Health: How not to handle a crisis
The beleaguered Southern Health NHS trust has been lurching from tragedy to farce – with the deepening of its on-going crisis appearing largely of its own making. And its account of its actions this week have only caused further damage to its reputation.