Print to TV: Lessons from the set of Good Morning Arizona
“I know more about this story than anyone here, and I’m going to be one of the most upbeat people in the room.”
Robin J Phillips, Reynolds Center
Those were two thoughts going through my head as I drove up to local TV news station, 3TV, this morning in Phoenix.
A producer contacted me on Friday, asking if I could come in to talk about the fast-moving NewsCorp scandal and what implications it may have on the United States. Rebekah Brooks had just resigned as chief executive of News International. And Les Hinton, head of News Corp’s Dow Jones & Co. was about to step down.
Yes, it was fast-moving. Before the end of the weekend, Brooks had been arrested and charged in relation to both the ongoing investigations into phone hacking and alleged illegal payments to police officers.
Later on Sunday, news that Neil Wallis, a former journalist at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid, had been employed by London’s Metropolitan Police prompted Scotland Yard’s chief, Paul Stephenson, to resign.
I spent the weekend catching up and keeping up with this story that definitely will have an impact on media and business in the U.S. As I sat in the green room (a couch in the lobby) before the 8:15 a.m. interview, John Yates, the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London and the country’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, resigned his job. By the time I got back to the office, there was news that a former News of the World reporter and key whistleblower in the phone-hacking scandal was found dead in his home.
Again, fast-moving. But back to knowing my stuff and being sufficiently upbeat.
It’s always a little nerve-wracking for a print or any other non-broadcast journalist to jump in to a TV interview. I have done it infrequently over the years, but enough to have learned some specific lessons that help me feel cool and calm during the interview.
Preparation: That’s one thing we print natives do well. We over-prepare. I knew enough about the News Corp. scandal this morning to write an 18-inch story. 3TV anchor Tara Hitchcock wanted two or three paragraphs .. TOPS!
High energy: You’ve only got 15 or 20 seconds to get your point across so you have no time to ease into it. Hit em quick, make your point, make it precise.
Conversation: Remember it is a conversation between you and the interviewer. Listen to what they are asking, because they may (most often do) take a little different direction than you were prepared for.
Go with your strengths: You’re the expert in this interview. As I researched the News Corp. scandal and thought about the journalistic ethics and criminal behavior, I realized how big a business story this is about to become. I could, in just a few seconds, shed some light on how Rupert Murdoch’s U.S. holdings mean this story is most likely to become a contentious issue as investigations into impropriety move across the Atlantic Ocean. (Don’t use words like “impropriety” and maybe not even “contentious.”)
Keep it simple: Don’t go into a long drawn out explanation of the story. All that preparation will help you speak with authority, but you don’t have to tell them everything you know.
Breathe: Take your time, breathe, and relax. Try to stay in the moment because it will go by very quickly.
Wear a blue shirt: Perhaps it’s a cliché or a little vain, but it works. In my case, it brings out my eyes. If I know I’m going to look good, I’ll feel good. TV folks live with that every day. We can too once in a while.
If you’re interested in more, you’ll find this training useful: ASU’s Cronkite Professor Susan Green’s How to look natural on air: Self-guided training.
