By Anne Ready ne-ready\
LOS ANGELES – There’s an old saying … when you lose, don’t lose the lesson. And there can be some lessons learned from media coverage.
Courtesy of ABCNews
The first time he was a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump complained about Fox News host and co-moderator of the Republican debates, Megyn Kelly. “I don’t like her. She doesn’t treat me fairly.” The network responded by saying that regardless of who Mr. Trump was, he could not pick the journalists who would ask the questions.
To disrespect reporters tarnishes your own image. Interviews are free advertising. They can show you off to best advantage. But only if you’ve learned how to spar good-naturedly and play the media game. A lesson that President Trump apparently still hasn’t learned.
Courtesy of CNN
Another world leader, Pope Francis in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica was quoted thusly. “Many of my advisers who are fighting pedophile priests are giving me reliable data estimating pedophilia inside the church at a level of 2 percent.” Then he added. “Among the 2 percent of pedophiles are priests, and even bishops and cardinals.”
“Pope Francis tends to speak off the cuff,” commented a writer for the Catholic Culture website. “And does not usually rely on competent staff members to brief him about any potential difficulties before he speaks to journalists.” So, the lesson was an interview about the problem. not the solution.
Not “Media trained”
Courtesy of ABC
And finally, Dev Patel, the then-18-year-old star of Slumdog Millionaire, shared his terror of being on the The Late Show with David Letterman. Here’s what he had to say: “That was the worst! It was my first live interview in history. I hadn’t been media trained. And I was backstage repeating ‘My name is Dev Patel and I’m the lead in Slumdog’. My name is Dev Patel and I’m the lead in Slumdog’.
When I got on stage, Mr. Letterman says, ‘So I hear you’re a young kid. How old are you?’ And I go, ‘My name is Dev Patel and I’m the lead in Slumdog’. Then there’s this massive silence…. “
Had these famous folks been READY FOR MEDIA trained, they would have learned to:
• Acknowledge the question (without repeating it)
• Come with an agenda of your own and flag it (what’s really important is) (what keeps me up at night is) or you could stay on the defensive forever
• Bridge to the Soundbite you came to give to take the lead in an interview.