If your spokesperson is performing really badly in a live broadcast interview would you drag them off air?
Whether they walk off of their own accord or the PR person calls proceedings to a halt, leaving an interview early is a bold move which makes media appearances memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Then main reason for this is that it contains the element of trouble journalists look for in a story, as well as the 'unusual' element, which means the interview can become a story in its own right.
And that’s exactly what happened to new Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney.
The Liberal Democrat appeared on TalkRadio the day after her by-election victory and the interview was brought to a premature end after just three minutes, creating a raft of negative headlines.
So what went so badly wrong?
Well, we have to say we do have some sympathy for Ms Olney. The interview, which clearly took place during a series of media engagements, started with a clever set up and challenging opening question from presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer, which undoubtedly took Ms Olney by surprise and left her floundering.
Ms Hartley-Brewer congratulated her on her victory and claimed to have been building the interview up all morning before simply asking: “When is the second by election going to be held?”
And, when a puzzled Ms Olney replied “the second by-election?”, Hartley-Brewer said: “Well, we don’t really know whether voters really knew what they were voting for when they elected you, so shouldn’t we have a second by-election?”
It’s unlikely the exact nature of the opening question could have been predicted, but it could, and should, have been anticipated that Ms Olney was going to face a tough time during this particular interview.
At Media First we always teach the importance of preparation and the smallest amount of research here would have shown that Ms Hartley-Brewer is a vocal supporter of leaving the EU - you simply need to view her Twitter account.
Amazing how many Remainers don't have a clue what they're talking about. Yet so angry & oh so morally superior. Bless their cotton socks
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) November 30, 2016
Lib Dem leader @timfarron on Radio4 claiming he's defending the sovereignty of the British people by demanding 2nd EU ref. Laughable.
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) November 11, 2016
Therefore Ms Olney’s campaign pledge to demand a second referendum on the terms of Britain’s exit from Europe was always likely to be a focus of the interview and come under some particularly close scrutiny.
Some people may wonder whether the first question was really fair, but if you are going to appear on Talkradio it is unlikely to be a straight news interview. This is a station which says it is ‘driven by its personality and personalities’ and adds its presenters are ‘not afraid to speak their minds’. Whatever you feel about this interview approach, it seems to fit with the station’s stated culture.
Perhaps it was the surprise at the nature of the first question, but Ms Olney’s big error was making no attempt to move the conversation on from this line of questioning.
In fact she did little more than try to answer each question she was asked with fairly short responses – something good media training teaches will only result in being put under more pressure and ensure more questions are posed along a similar line.
This flawed approach also told the presenter she was winning and that she should pursue her tactics.
It was an awkward listen and it came to a rather premature and bizarre end when an unidentified man took over the phone and said “I’m really sorry Sarah has had to go now” and added that she had gone on to another interview.
This incensed Ms Hartley-Brewer who said the interview was booked for this time and added that Ms Olney was ‘clearly not up to her questions” and questioned whether she should be an MP if she was not prepared to answer questions.
It is not clear whether Ms Olney walked from the interview or whether one of her advisers took the decision to pull her from it.
What is clear, however, is that we don’t need any form of second vote to conclude that the decision to end proceedings early propelled this from an awkward, uncomfortable interview to a disastrous, headline grabbing one.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
If you like this blog, read more about our highly practical media training courses.
Subscribe here to be among the first to receive our blogs.
