Spokespeople trying to flee from reporters never looks good.
It can make spokespeople appear evasive, inept, ashamed and culpable.
Yet, despite this risk, it remains an approach many take when they are caught off guard by the doorstep or ambush interview.
The latest painful example which caught the attention of this media training blog saw a spokesperson not only try to desperately scurry away from the reporter, but also end up insulting him.
It happened in America when the Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was approached by a journalist from Spectrum News NY1, about his objection to an attempt to quickly pass a bill ensuring the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund never runs out of money.
Our @JVittalTV on Thursday questioned Kentucky Senator Rand Paul about his objection to an attempt to quickly pass a bill ensuring the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund never runs out of money. Here is video of their exchange. pic.twitter.com/Dxx3yEnGlp
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) July 18, 2019
The politician was approached by journalist Jeevan Vittal as he left a meeting room and what followed was an awkward pursuit down staircases and through corridors.
Mr Paul’s first tactic seemed to be to simply ignore the questions he was being asked and flee.
When he did eventually speak, he suggested the journalist got the information he wanted from a rival channel.
He said: “If you watch Fox News, we just did an interview on Fox News and there’s a lot of good information on there. If you tell your viewers to tune in to Fox News we have some great stuff on there.”
When the journalist told him that he didn’t work for that channel he said: “If you were a professional outlet you could call and get an interview like they did.”
Then, completely ignoring, the journalist’s comment that he had tried to get an interview through his office, the senator said: “If you would like to be sort of a professional reporter - if you’ll call and get an interview, that’d be a great idea.”
It was, in short, a disaster which left viewers with the image of a spokesperson being rude and running for cover.
Not great when, according to its website, NY1 is viewed in almost two million homes across the New York metropolitan region.
Social media footage of the clip additionally received 8,000 retweets, 24,000 likes and 4,000 comments.
What a tool RP has always been!! Instead of answering the question he deflects and tries to call someone else unprofessional while he’s unprofessionally not answering the question. They’ve tried to get interviews, but he ignores the asks, but they’re unprofessional! #RandPaul pic.twitter.com/POapsfj4lO
— JoJo Love (@HearJoJo) July 19, 2019
What Rand Paul was really saying is that he doesn’t do interviews where he can’t control the narrative with prepared answers to questions that he’s already been briefed about. Otherwise he could repeat everything he just said to Fox just a few moments before. https://t.co/DL39MlgNLJ
— L (@lackofharmony) July 19, 2019
If I understood this #RandPaul stair interview clip, it took him several sets of stairs to come up with, "Watch Fox News, you should be more like Fox News you unprofessional Non-Fox News reporter"? Tell me again we don't have a State Run Media Outlet. 😳
— Donna Hall (@DJoHall) July 19, 2019
BREAKING: New video surfaces of Rand Paul fleeing the interview. pic.twitter.com/3LOS3Tesfj
— Danger, Death Ray! (@AJBullX) July 19, 2019
But Mr Paul is not alone in finding this a particularly tricky type of interview. Many spokespeople put up the shutters and look to flee when faced with the prospect of a doorstep interview.
That’s why these interviews are often used during our media training and crisis communication courses.
Here are some tips from those courses to help ensure your spokesperson doesn’t produce a doorstep interview disaster:
Stop
The key to emerging from doorstep interviews successfully is to stop and give the reporter a brief sound bite so they can move the story forward. Then promise to come back with something fuller later. The truth is no-one is really looking for, or expecting, a full interview in this scenario.
Thinking time
Saying ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ not only ensures you sound polite but also gives you a little time to compose your thoughts before you respond.
Defensive
It’s also important that what you say does not sound overly defensive or irritable. This will simply create an impression of having something to hide and lead to more questions.
Don’t show annoyance
There is a school of thought that doorstep interviews are a deliberate attempt to rattle spokespeople, to gain emotional responses and dramatic footage. As we’ve shown here, it makes compelling TV but it can be very damaging. The key is to avoid taking the bait and deal with the situation calmly and with control. Don’t criticise the reporter or where they work, and don’t continually refer them to another station you have already given an interview.
Exit
As with press conferences, it is important to have an exit strategy so you know where you are going after you have made your comments and can make a quick getaway. Walking around trying to find your car or struggling to get back into your office, for example, does not create an impression of competence.
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.
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