It has been another newsworthy year.
Three Prime Ministers (at the time of writing), a war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis are just some of the stories that have dominated the headlines this year and seen Covid slip down the news bulletins.
Some of those who have found themselves in the spotlight have handled the media expertly (and we will be highlighting them in another media training blog).
Others have produced interviews that have left a lot to be desired.
And, as is our tradition at this time of year, we are going to look back at those who got it wrong and the media training lessons you can learn from them.
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We mentioned there have been three Prime Misters in 2022.
And they’ve all delivered some media interview disasters this year.
Boris Johnson endured a torrid time as he struggled to manage questions on ‘partygate’ and maintain his composure.
There was a particularly memorable exchange with Beth Rigby during a trip to India.
The Sky News journalist asked questions about the Downing Street parties. And an increasingly tetchy Mr Johnson looked at his watch (never a good look in a media interview) and told her: “I want to talk about the point of this trip. Ask me questions relating to the trip.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, the interview descended into an argument about the focus on partying rather than the Prime Minister’s trade agenda.
When the political editor argued she had not spent as long on the party allegations as the BBC, the Prime Minister replied: “It’s not a competition. Get onto the subject of the trip.”
The current incumbent at Downing Street has also had his struggles. Back in March, when Rishi Sunak was still chancellor, he struggled with questions about bread.
BBC Breakfast reporter Nina Warhurst asked Mr Sunak what food item he had noticed going up the most in supermarkets.
“It’s probably, I think bread, probably is the thing,” he replied. “The one we buy, I’m sure, is now about £1.20, and it was about £1, from memory.”
A reasonable response. But then it began to crumble.
Asked what kind of bread, the chancellor said: “It’s a Hovis kind of seeded thing.
“We have a whole range of different – we all have different breads in my house, a degree of healthiness between my wife, myself and my kids,”
That unguarded comment, presumably added to bring a snippet of his character and home life into the interview, was misjudged.
Having four different loaves to choose from probably feels like a banquet to those struggling to put any bread on the table.
And he made the comment a day after Richard Walker, the boss of Iceland, warned that food banks were turning down potatoes because people couldn’t afford to boil them.
It led to a string of negative headlines – and Mr Sunak being branded ‘Rishi Antoinette’ on social media.
He was later labelled ‘chip and dim’ by The Sun following a PR stunt where he struggled to make a contactless payment.
But the media appearance that stood out for me was an uncomfortable encounter with Sky News when the conversation moved on to Mr Sunak’s wife’s links to Russia.
Akshata Murthy (Mr Sunak’s wife) has shares in an IT company called Infosys, which operates in Russia and has an office in Moscow.
Mr Sunak has previously urged companies to “think very carefully about their investments in Russia and how they may aid the Putin regime.”
So, presenter Jayne Secker asked whether he was giving advice to others he was not following at home.
“I am an elected politician, and I am here to talk to you about what I am responsible for,” he said. “My wife is not.”
A short, sharp, defensive answer, which sounded much like ‘no comment’.
He later compared himself to Will Smith, saying they had both had their “wives attacked.”
Perhaps the most infamous media performance was produced by the person who had the shortest stay in Downing Street.
Liz Truss was only in the top job for 44 days. And, in that time, she delivered a series of excruciating interviews with regional radio presenters.
The interviews were the first time Ms Truss had spoken since the pound plummeted to record levels, and she seemed unable to move beyond rehearsed responses about a “difficult winter”, “tough decisions”, and “Putin’s war”.
BBC Bristol presenter James Hanson called out her ‘scripted answers’.
“With respect Prime Minister, that is the same scripted answer you have given every local BBC radio station this morning,” he said.
“Are you ashamed of what you have done?” was the first question on BBC Radio Kent. On BBC Radio Nottingham, she was accused of being a “reverse Robin Hood”.
And there was an uncomfortable silence on BBC Stoke when presenter John Acres said any energy saving would be dwarfed by mortgage rises and called out the “external forces” line so prevalent in other interviews.
He said: “This isn’t to do with external forces – this is about your mini-budget and what it has done to the economy.”
On BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Norfolk, it was local questions about consent for fracking and a hospital that caused the Prime Minister to stumble.
So, what media training lessons can you learn from these Downing Street performances?
Imagine you’re a landlord.
You agree to be interviewed by Channel 4 News as part of a story about rising rents during the cost-of-living crisis.
And you want to show that those in your industry are not cashing in.
Where would be a good place to have that interview?
Well, landlord Sebastian Gerrard decided the perfect location was the driveway of his huge gated home, complete with a Lamborghini and Range Rover on the drive.
The camera technician even did a close-up of the Lamborghini badge for good measure (you can see the clip here at 3:25).
It’s not the sort of footage that makes viewers sympathetic to your argument or financial plight. In fact, it resulted in widespread mockery and ridicule.
Optics are crucial in media interviews because they impact how the audience perceives you.
If you want to tell people landlords are not cashing in on the cost-of-living crisis, don’t be filmed on your drive with flashy cars. It will undermine your message and reinforce the perception you set out to disprove.
A short time after I wrote a blog on this interview, the ITN Archive Twitter account produced another perfect example of why considering the location is crucial.
The tweet, which has received more than 15,000 likes and 3,400 retweets, shows an ITN report from A19 in Teeside in 1988.
As the local councillor Mr Davidson argues the road is not “highly dangerous”, a car can be seen careering off the side of the road, swiftly followed by another car crashing into the back of another vehicle. Immaculate timing.
What media training lessons can we learn from these clips?
The sporting world has never drifted too far from controversy and headlines this year.
And not all of them have centred on the World Cup.
Cast your mind back to the summer, and a new golf tournament was the focus of media attention.
LIV Golf got underway in London amid a backdrop of sportswashing allegations – using sport to improve reputation. And a split between players willing to take the new money and those loyal to the traditional tournaments.
So, you might think those taking part would be prepared to face some challenging questions during a pre-tournament press conference. You would be wrong.
English golfers Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood provided a masterclass on how not to handle difficult questions when they were put on the spot by Neil McLeman, from the Mirror. Here is the exchange.
McLeman: “Lee and Ian, is there anywhere in the world you would not play? If Vladimir Putin put on a tournament, would you play there?”
Poulter: “That’s speculation. I’m not even going to comment on speculation.”
McLeman: “In a generality, is there anywhere you would not play on a moral basis? If the money was right, is there anywhere you would not play?”
Poulter: (long silence) “I don’t need to answer that question.”
McLeman: “Sorry?”
Poulter: “I don’t need to answer that question."
McLeman: “Lee, do you want to answer it? Would you have played in apartheid South Africa, for example?"
Westwood: “You are just asking us to answer a hypothetical question there, which we can't answer a question on that."
McLeman: “But they are moral questions, aren’t they?”
Embarrassing stuff. Not only were the questions badly answered, but the body language and haunted look on their faces in the clips shared on social media and newspaper websites suggested the golfers had not anticipated tough questions.
What media training lessons can we learn from this press conference?
Talking of a reluctance to tackle difficult questions, a routine celebrity interview generated huge coverage in July after a PR prevented a spokesperson from providing an answer.
It happened when Harry Potter actor Tom Felton was asked a question about JK Rowling as the franchise marked 25 years since the publication of the first book.
The actor, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, was promoting a new attraction at the Warner Bros Studio Tour.
And during an interview with Sky News, he faced a question about the author’s absence from much of the anniversary celebrations amid scrutiny of her position on gender and women’s rights.
Sky’s Claire Gregory asked: “You and the other stars of the film are very much still the face of the franchise. JK obviously has more of a back seat now. Is it strange her not being around for things like this?”
But before the actor could answer, a voice off-camera said: “Next question please.”
According to a report in The Telegraph, when Sky later asked for an explanation, it was told: “JK Rowling is not connected to Warner or Tom Felton. The team felt it was not relevant to the piece.”
But this was not an example of PR wizardry - the intervention backfired. Instead of keeping the focus away from an awkward issue, it shone a spotlight on it.
Perhaps the most damming criticism came from Sky News, which said in an article: “PRs don't and shouldn't - for all sorts of reasons not least press freedom - dictate Sky News editorial direction.”
Warner Bros later released a statement admitting it was “wholly wrong” to block the question.
It said: "Warner Bros. has enjoyed a creative, productive, and fulfilling partnership with J.K. Rowling for the past 20 years.
"She is one of the world's most accomplished storytellers, and we are proud to be the studio to bring her vision, characters, and stories to life now - and for decades to come.
"On Monday, a statement was issued by a third-party media agency that appeared contrary to this view.
“The statement was wholly wrong, and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London regrets it happened as part of a media event that day."
What can we learn from this:
Pay has been an issue for the Bank of England Governor this year despite him earning 18 times more than the average worker.
Andrew Bailey caused fury at the start of 2022 when he told workers to moderate their pay demands despite spiralling prices, during a BBC interview.
The comment was described as a ‘PR clanger’ by Reuters. The Daily Star labelled him the ‘Plank of England’ and it earned him a rebuke from the Government.
And this all stemmed from Mr Bailey allowing the journalist to put words in his mouth.
Asked by Faisal Islam if he was “trying to get into people’s heads and asking them not to ask for too big a pay rise”, Mr Bailey replied, “Broadly, yes.”
Two words that led to damning coverage – the reporter struggled to hide his surprise at the answer.
The problem for the governor is that his plea seemed tone-deaf. A well-paid man calling for others not to ask for more was never going to land well.
It made him seem out of touch with the struggles people face across the country. And it’s not up to workers to control inflation.
It was a response that suggested a lack of preparation and media interview skill.
So, you may think he would be better prepared for his next public appearance.
Well, that too went badly.
Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Bailey told MPs he couldn’t remember how much he is paid, got the country’s median salary wrong and struggled to answer a question about the average salary for a care worker.
Here’s the key exchange:
Angela Eagle MP: Can you tell me what the median annual pay was for a full-time employee in the last period – to April 2021?
Bailey: Median annual pay – I think it is somewhere in the sort of upper £20,000 range.
Eagle: £31,285. Can you tell me what the median care worker wage was during the same period?
Bailey: I know it is considerably lower. I can’t tell you exactly what it is, I’m afraid.
Eagle: £9.01 an hour and 77 per cent of care workers are paid below the Living Wage Foundation Rate. What was your pay over the same period?
Bailey: Substantially higher.
Eagle: What was it, governor?
Bailey: It is somewhere over £500,000. I can’t tell you exactly what it was. I don’t carry that around in my head.
Eagle: I think, including pension, £575,538. Without pension £477,000. That’s how many more times.
Bailey: Substantially more. It is substantially more, I know that.
This resulted in more damaging coverage. And added to the impression he was out of touch.
From a media training perspective, why be so evasive? Saying you can’t remember how much you earn feels like a slap in the face for those who count every penny.
A much better approach would have been to be open about his salary and then point out it is substantially less than that of his predecessor and that he had forgone pay rises. Or show self-awareness – “I know I am in a more fortunate position than most people”.
What media training tips can we take from this PR disaster?
And with those tips, we’ll bring our round-up of the worst interviews of the year to a close. Who will make it on to this naughty list in 2023 – only time will tell.
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