Those were the words of Nick Robinson as he cut short one of the most memorable recent interviews....
Inspiration for this media training blog comes from a variety of sources.
Often, it is media interviews I’ve seen.
Sometimes, it’s those that captured the attention of our current working journalist trainers.
We also regularly receive tip-offs about interviews from readers.
But we first noticed the interview that we are going to look at today when it was lampooned on Have I Got News for You.
The topical comedy quiz show highlighted an interview shadow home secretary Chris Philp gave to GB News.
After initially being asked about the arrest of Hadush Kebatu, the migrant sex offender mistakenly released from prison, the interview moved on to the result of the Caerphilly by-election.
The Conservative party had received just two per cent of the vote in the Welsh constituency.
And Mr Philp was asked by journalist Christopher Hope for his reaction to the result and whether he knew who the leader of the party is in Wales.
The politician discussed the result, calling it a “disappointing”, but didn’t address the leader part of the question.
So, Mr Hope asked it again.
And again. And again
Each request was ignored and met with a long, rambling answer containing plenty of waffle.
When he asked the question for a fourth time, Mr Hope said: “If you don’t know, you can say – who is the leader of the Welsh Tories?”
And Mr Philp replied: “Look, I’ve been explaining our positive programme for the future…”
When he asked the fifth time, Mr Philp tried the same approach, saying: “Look, I’ve explained that we have a positive new programme…”
The journalist then intervened again, saying: “If you don’t know, you can say, it’s totally fine”.
Eventually, Mr Philp said: “We’ve got a relatively new leader and I’m afraid... I’m afraid the name escapes me.”
Phew, we got there in the end.
Here’s what some of the wider media made of the interview:
And, of course, it featured on Have I Got News for You, where Paul Merton said: “He should have just come in and said, ‘I don’t know and neither does anybody else'.”
Excruciating stuff.
And it took the focus away from the subject Mr Philp had set out to speak about.
The key media training question here is, why did it take him so long to admit he did not know the answer?
My guess is that he felt it would be embarrassing to admit he didn’t know.
But would it be any more embarrassing than repeatedly trying to evade and ignore the question before ultimately admitting defeat?
The simple answer to that is 'no'.
We stress during our media skills training courses that spokespeople should not be afraid to say they don’t know the answer to a particular question.
Sometimes, no matter how good your media interview preparation is, there will be a question you can’t answer. Or where a bit of brain fade kicks in.
Saying you don’t know feels open and honest – people value honesty much more than evasiveness.
It is also important to remember that most journalists will understand you may not have the answer to every question, particularly when the conversation moves away from the main theme of the interview.
But ‘I don’t know’ must be used sparingly. Only one or twice during an interview.
I realised while writing this blog that Mr Philp’s media performances have come to my attention before.
A couple of years ago, I highlighted how he had said “I don’t know” and “We don’t know” a staggering 18 times during a Today programme interview.
That is clearly far too much.
And overuse impacts perception of a spokesperson’s expertise.
When someone is being interviewed, the audience wants to hear what they do know, not what they don’t know.
And this is why, when you say, “I don’t know”, you should go on to say what you do know.
So, your answer would start something like: “I don’t know, but what I can tell you is…”.
I don’t know if Mr Philp reads our blogs.
But I do know our media training would help him finally get the “I don’t know” balance right.
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