5 things you may not know about the media
Some unusual lessons I've picked up across hundreds of interviews
The Today programme has a special clock
I’d always assumed that when the BBC Radio 4 Today presenters said the time in their distinctive way (‘it’s now seventeen minutes to eight’) they were doing the clock sums in their head like arithmetic ninjas.
Until I visited their studio, and realised they have a customised clock that displays text with the time in that familiar ‘X to/past Y’ format.
Don’t get interviewed twice
One evening many years ago, I did a quick outdoor interview about some emerging research. The next day, the same outlet invited me into the studio to talk about the topic again. I mentioned I’d recently talked to them; were they sure they wanted me again? Yes, they said, and I headed over to the live interview – and a massive media faux pas.
Before the interview began, a short pre-recorded video ran to introduce the piece. That’s when yesterday Adam appeared on the screen, saying everything I was just about to say. The presented looked furious. The video ended and the camera cut to us in the studio. ‘Now here’s Adam Kucharski,’ he said. ‘Again’.
BBC don’t seem keen on normal chairs
Balancing on stools. Reclining on sofas. Perching on tables. Trying hard not to swivel on a very swivelly chair. I’ve done a lot of filmed interviews while sitting on things that don’t feel totally natural to do an interview on. Sometimes it made me doubt my ability to sit normally. Is this how people sit on a stool? Should I be further back on the table? Is this a normal recline, or a weird recline?
You’ll often get cut for something better
I once got dropped at the last minute because a show had got a ‘big avocado story’. To this day, I still don’t know if it was an unusually large avocado, or just an important story about a regular-sized avocados.
Sky are fans of make up
Years ago, I did a Channel 4 interview about a possible new outbreak. Because I was going into a bright studio, they put some make-up on me, like broadcasters usually do. Then I went straight to do another interview for Sky. I said I’d already got make-up on, but they were keen add another layer. I went along with it – after all, what do I know, they must do this all the time.
Then, soon after the interview, I got a text from a friend: ‘You looked like a Thunderbird.’
You should adopt the avocado as your official symbol. Like a superhero.
Fascinating and enjoyable piece - the avocado and Thunderbird stories gave me bit of a giggle at the start of a long work day!