“Here’s a clip of an interview you might be interested in for your media training blog.”
This one feels familiar.
A high-profile media interview is carried out aimed at reputation repair.
But the interview proves to be misjudged.
And it is quickly followed by statements seeking to restrict further damage.
Yes, our latest media training blog analyses that Peter Mandelson interview, its similarities to the infamous Prince Andrew one, and the fallout.
When Lord Mandelson recently appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, it was his first media interview since being sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US in September.
He had lost his job after emails emerged detailing his close relationship with the billionaire serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The appearance was seen as the start of a potential return to public life and the opportunity to rebuild his reputation.
But it didn’t go to plan.
The interview covered a range of topics, including Donald Trump, whether he will take Greenland by force, Iran, and Ukraine.
And inevitably, there were questions about his friendship with Epstein and its continuation after his conviction.
Lord Mandelson described that as a “terrible mistake” and “misplaced loyalty”.
Asked if we wanted to apologise to the victims for his continued association with Epstein after his conviction, Lord Mandelson said: “I want to apologise to those women for a system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect.”
Pressed on whether he would apologise for the friendship, he said: “If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologise.
“But I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable for what he was doing, and I regret, and will regret to my dying day, the fact that powerless women were not given the protection they were entitled to expect.”
That’s a pretty long-winded way of saying ‘no’.
And, as you might expect, the lack of empathy did not land well.
Not a great outcome from an interview aiming to rebuild his reputation.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, a hasty U-turn followed.
In a statement to BBC Newsnight the following evening, the politician said: “Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his (Jeffrey Epstein's) crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others.
"I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered."
He added: “I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else I learned the actual truth about him after his death.
"But his victims did know what he was doing, their voices were not heard and I am sorry I was amongst those who believed him over them."
He got there in the end. But even then, it’s still more explanation than apology.
It was a fascinatingly weird media interview performance.
It is even stranger when you consider Lord Mandelson is sometimes referred to as the King of Spin because of his communication skills and media strategy prowess.
But what was the strategy for this media interview?
It was inevitable questions about Epstein would be asked.
What did he think would happen by not making a clear apology and not showing some empathy for the victims?
A quick look at the then Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Epstein would have answered that question.
The refusal to apologise was the takeaway from the interview. It overshadowed everything else he said.
And created several days of damaging headlines that could have been avoided.
But maybe we should not be surprised by how badly he misjudged this interview.
He has a history of struggling to deal with journalists’ questions about his relationship with Epstein.
In February last year, he told a Financial Times reporter to “f**k off” when the subject was raised in an interview ahead of him taking up the role as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
“I’m not going to go into this,” he said.
“It’s an FT obsession and frankly you can all f**k off. OK?”
That’s an interesting approach to handling difficult questions in media interviews – and not one we would recommend during our media training courses.
So, what media training lessons can be learnt from this latest interview?
Message testing
Mr Mandelson is an experienced media spokesperson and a highly regarded media operator.
It’s reasonable to assume he would have advised others at times against the non-apology apology he offered in this interview.
It’s a reminder of the importance of testing messages ahead of media interviews.
How will others react to what you intend to say? Will the message land the way you hope? Is it framed in a way that will resonate?
This is particularly important when spokespeople are likely to face questions that have a personal angle. We regularly see, for example, spokespeople struggle to answer questions about their salary or bonus.
Sometimes, being too close to a story can impact messaging judgement.
Apologies
We’ve studied many apologies in our media training and crisis communication blogs.
The key is to get it right first time.
By issuing a non-apology apology and then apologising more meaningfully 24 hours later, Lord Mandelson ensured two batches of negative media coverage.
And, even though his second effort was greatly improved, the media was able to frame it as a reluctant U-turn.
Not a great look.
Apologies need to sound genuine.
They need to sound human and not like they have been drafted by a team of lawyers.
And they must show empathy and remorse.
Learn from others
We said at the start of this media training blog that it feels like we have been here before.
There are striking similarities between this interview and the Prince Andrew one.
Same channel. Questions on the same topic. Similar public reaction to what was said.
That Prince Andrew interview should have been reviewed before Lord Mandelson stepped into the hotseat. And that review should have helped shape his approach.
As we stress during our media training sessions, there is always much that can be learnt from observing how others perform.
No doubt we will add this Lord Mandelson interview to our catalogue of ‘how not to do it’ examples.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 40 years of experience.
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