We are often asked on our media training courses whether you should use humour in an interview.
If your jokes are as crude as those used by Steve Hedley then the answer is a very firm ‘no’.
The RMT leader found himself being reprimanded on air once again this week when speaking about the way Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had dealt with Junior doctors, who are due to go on strike again next week.
This time the rebuke came from LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty after he started his interview on Tuesday with the following comment about the Health Secretary:
“I didn’t realise Jeremy Hunt was his real name – I thought it was cockney rhyming slang.”
Whatever your political stance you have to question the wisdom of using this ‘joke’ on the radio.
If you were a paid up member of the RMT, how would you feel about being represented by a man who thinks this playground style remark is an appropriate way to start an interview? It’s the sort of comment you would expect to hear in a pub, not on the radio during a supposedly serious discussion.
Certainly Ms Fogarty was left unimpressed with this cheap shot, saying that if he was her union rep she would find his comment ‘disappointing’ and adding that it is ‘not a part of adult mature negotiation’. A pretty reasonable assessment.
Mr Hedley, however, was unrepentant and seemingly destined to go completely off-message, adding: “I think all the Tories are an absolute disgrace, they should be taken out and shot to be quite frank with you.”
“Oh Steve”, responded Ms Fogarty. “I’m not going to let you say that, so don’t repeat it.”
Exchanges like this make for great radio.
The problem for Mr Hedley is that his offensive and immature comments completely detract from the points he came on air to make.
Who is going to remember anything from that interview other than that a middle aged man still finds name jokes funny and that he hates all Conservatives?
It was a frankly bizarre performance, but Mr Hedley does of course have previous when it comes to putting his foot in his mouth during interviews.
Appearing on the same station in February last year to discuss whether a Northern Line tube driver had failed a breath test, his interview was abruptly ended following a bizarre rant when he repeatedly asked host Nick Ferrari ‘Have you stopped beating your wife?’
This approach caused Mr Ferrari to say: “Your vile and abusive stance means I never wish to speak to you again. And in my eyes, you have diminished the case of your colleague immeasurably.”
It seems any lessons learnt from that exchange quickly went out of the window and you have to question whether Mr Hedley is the correct person to deliver RMT messages to the media.
As for the wider question about using humour in interviews, more often than not it goes wrong. If you or your spokesperson are planning to include a joke, run it past as many people as possible to check for any offence it may cause – and make sure they get it. Stick to gentle humour and carefully consider your audience.
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