Reddit + Fox News = Interview Tragedy

By Geoffrey Stackhouse, Managing Director, Clarity Solutions

This is one of the most tragic media interviews I’ve seen in a long time.

For once it’s not a slimy and untruthful interviewee being exposed by a superhero journalist. This one is a vicious knife job on an untrained, naïve but well-meaning volunteer – Doreen Ford, the longest serving moderator on Reddit.

It’s like watching a puppy being slaughtered.

You can watch the full interview here – its only about three minutes long – and while Jesse Watters has a reputation as a hostile interviewer, remember this is purely an own goal.

So many lessons here but my #1 take out is a media policy, a good media advisor and some basic training can save your organisation’s reputation as well as your own. After this aired, the Reddit thread went private for 24 hours and now appears to have been taken down. Doreen has been stripped of her responsibilities and is probably struggling to find a reason to live.

Doreen starts well but she loses it after she engages on the idea of laziness. Rather than swallow that poison, she should have pivoted to a really tight message on fairness and equity to achieve a more productive balance. That way she might have turned the tables on this trainwreck.

Sadly, Doreen fidgets and fails to make eye contact, actions later reported to be the result of a medical condition. Then there’s the background and the lighting …

So what should Doreen have done differently?

1. Pick your battles: An anti-work interview on Fox News was always going to end in tears.
2. Go into every interview with a clear message and interesting facts to support it.
3. Appearances are critical. Whether its a work zoom meeting or a media interview, remember that people are judgmental so don’t feed them images which distract from your message. Have a tidy background, sit upright in a fixed chair which doesn’t engulf you (don’t swivel, slouch, or fidget), and always keep a clean T-shirt handy (in a solid blue or black) for a strong onscreen presence.

Sadly it looks like it will be a while until we meet face to face, so over the break we have updated all our online training courses with new ideas, simpler structures and great examples. We’d love you to experience the Clarity difference so reach out if we can help you in any way.

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