Imagine you are in crisis media management mode.
As the head of your organisation leaves your offices, they are greeted by reporters firing questions.
How would they respond? Could they calmly cope with the stressful situation?
Or would their reaction create a wave of damning headlines and social media posts?
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Well, the UK’s most senior police officer opted for the latter.
As Sir Mark Rowley emerged from an emergency Cobra meeting called in response to the UK riots, he was met by a journalist from Sky News, who asked, "Are we going to end two-tier policing sir?"
Instead of answering or acknowledging the question, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appeared to bizarrely grab the reporter’s microphone before dropping it to the ground.
BREAKING: Commissioner of the Met Police Sir Mark Rowley has been seen leaving the Cabinet Office in Westminster.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 5, 2024
As he left, he was asked a question about two-tier policing, but Sir Mark grabbed the journalist's microphone and dropped it to the ground.https://t.co/sSlOq3trXp pic.twitter.com/tbcyehnADf
Now, you might question the merits of the question. ‘Two-tier policing’ is a term that has been used on social media to whip up protesters by suggesting white working classes are treated more harshly than people from diverse backgrounds.
But regardless of whether you think it is a legitimate question, you cannot respond that way.
It looks angry, petulant and unprofessional and makes him seem arrogant.
Is it the response of a man who is open to scrutiny? What impression does it create of the meeting he has just left?
Police are asking people to uphold values, but here is a police chief grabbing a reporter’s property – something he needs to do his job - and discarding it.
The footage was quickly reported by just about every other media organisation, creating a wave of damning headlines and social media posts. Here are a few of them:
Met Police boss Sir Mark Rowley grabs microphone when grilled over 'two-tier policing' as he storms out of emergency COBRA meeting - while Keir Starmer scrambles to contain riots with hundreds of far right thugs arrested across Britain Daily Mail
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley grabs Sky journalist's mic and throws it aside Sky News
Met Police boss bizarrely snatches reporter’s microphone outside cabinet office when quizzed about riots Independent
Met Police Chief Silently Lashes Out When Questioned By Journalists Over Response To Riots Huff Post
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley yanks microphone from journalist in astonishing moment Mirror
‘Snatching’, ‘grabbing’ and ‘pushing’ are not words you would want associated with a police boss. And amid the coverage, the Daily Express ran a poll asking whether Sir Mark should step down.
A Met Police spokesperson responded to the footage by saying the commissioner "was in a hurry to return to New Scotland Yard to take action on the agreed next steps.”
Sir Mark later released a statement saying: “This morning I was part of a positive and constructive COBRA meeting with the Prime Minister about our collective response to hateful behaviour and violent disorder across the country.
"There's been a story running all day about my exit from the meeting. This is a distraction from the critical events we are dealing with.
"It was agreed the Prime Minister would provide an update afterwards and it was not my place to speak publicly. In an effort to move a microphone out of my path I'm sorry that I knocked it to the floor. That was never my intention.”
We understand the police boss has a lot going on and urgent matters that demand his attention during this summer of discontent.
But these ambush or doorstep-style interviews tend to happen when organisations are under pressure and facing intense scrutiny.
It is a horrible, stressful and testing media interview format. The scrutiny can be annoying. And the questions are loaded, quick-fire and often shouted.
But it can be handled much better than Sir Mark showed.
We advise delegates during our media training and crisis communication courses that if reporters are waiting to meet you, start by saying something like “Good morning” to gain a little time to compose your thoughts and consider what you want to say.
If you are approached by the side of a busy road, offer to speak to them somewhere quieter.
As well as giving you thinking time, it helps make you look open, polite and cooperative.
The crucial thing to remember with these interviews is that journalists are not expecting detailed responses.
They are looking for a few words - or footage - to move the story forward.
The best approach is to give them a brief soundbite and promise to return when there is more to say.
So, in this situation, Sir Mark could have said something like: “That (two-tier policing) is not a description I recognise. I’ve just come out of a constructive meeting with the Prime Minister and am keen to get back to New Scotland Yard to put the actions we have agreed in place.”
A response like that avoids repeating the negative ‘two-tier policing' phrase and does not generate the flurry of headlines we have just seen.
The other critical part is to avoid getting angry. Grabbing microphones, pushing cameras away, ignoring questions or being rude will not look good for you.
Keep calm and stay in control.
Finally, this is the one media interview format where you don’t have time to prepare what you want to say.
But you can anticipate that when you are in the middle of a crisis or the story everyone is covering, there could be reporters outside your door and think about how you will handle them in advance.
Here’s some more advice about dealing with doorstep interviews from Elisa Colton, one of our expert tutors.
No one wants to find themselves facing a doorstep interview.
But the format does not need to result in damning headlines and resignation calls.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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