mca blog

avert your gaze if you don't want to see my views on the upcoming U.S. election.

the problem w/ media interviews w/ politicians and their surrogates is that they frame their questions incorrectly. let me be clear:

• "do you think you are ready to lead this nation?"
• "tell me why you think you are ready to lead this nation."

so the first point is this. stop asking if people "believe" something is true. that's dumb. ask *why" they believe it's true. ask for evidence. ask people to *justify* their beliefs. i don't care what whether you *believe* you are ready. i want you to tell me *why* you think you are ready.

next, stop giving interviewees a free pass on their knowledge of the facts:

• "what will you do to fix the mortgage crisis|poverty|education gap|heath care crisis|etc"
• "tell me what led to the mortgage crisis|poverty|education gap|heath care crisis|etc and how you plan to change that"

make the interviewee expose their understanding of the problem before they spout party line on the solution. make sure viewers understand the depth of understanding this person has of the topic. stop letting ill-informed cardboard cut-outs spout pre-canned bilge over your airwaves.

finally, follow up on non-answers.

• Q: "is it true your administration would raise taxes on the [name your target group]?"
• A: "we believe everyone should be taxes fairly and equitably. [now launch into party prose]"

a good interviewer will not let the interviewee off the hook. a lame interviewer will move on and let the non-answer stand unchallenged.

i'm not naive, interviewers give their subjects a pass because it's easier and safer than challenging them. stop going for easy and safe. start going for responsible journalism. in the short term you will get lots of outrage from candidates. in the long term, you'll get better interviewees.

our country needs more long-term thinking.