How NOT to be interviewed on TV
by Graham Davies

Andrew Mackay MP suffers from the presentational handicap of having a face that looks as though it has walked into a door slightly too often. Over the weekend, he gave a Masterclass in how not to be interviewed on television.

He had just bluffed his way through an emergency meeting called to discuss (well, condemn) his recent expenses creativity. The meeting was either "lively" or "brutal", depending on your perspective. There is no doubt that another speaker at the meeting called him a thieving toad.

He was then interviewed a few yards away from the meeting hall in which his voters had given him such a good kicking. Naturally, a few of the audience members were interested to see how he would perform on Sky News.

He proceeded to say that 75% of the attendees had been there to support him. This provoked someone to start heckling the interview, something which clearly delighted the producer of the news segment, who told the cameraman to give the heckler/interrupter/concerned member several seconds of airtime. Mackay's already crisis-laden face twisted into utter horror, as he realised that he had been hijacked.....and his political career was over.

Mackay had made the mistake of not controlling the controllable. No matter how pushy the interviewer was, he should have insisted on a quiet location for any Q and A on camera.

If you are ever likely to be subjected to a crisis television interview, always make sure that it takes place well away from anyone who has a massive interest in wrecking your Micro-Message and getting their own agenda across instead.