Don’t Make Up Stuff

When coaching people to be interviewed, especially live on television, I always counsel them to listen closely to questions they are asked and to answer those questions. I also advise not to make up stuff if you don’t know. Unfortunately, for many people, that’s not always how they behave before the cameras.

Take, for example, Margaret Warner’s interview on PBS NewsHour last night with Robert Faris, a former Peace Corp volunteer, who is now associated with the Beckman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. She wanted to interview him about how such social media channels as Twitter are being used by protesters in Iran. Seems, though, that Faris does not use Twitter and did not have the answers.

For starters, Warner’s first question was flawed. While she stated, “for those of us who aren’t technologically as savvy as some of these young people,” the Internet was developed and run today largely by as many baby boomers as young people. So, speak for yourself, Warner.

But, more to the point. Here is Warner’s first question and Faris’ dodgy answer which tends to reveal his lack of knowledge:

MARGARET WARNER: Rob Faris, give us a little more, for those of us who aren’t technologically as savvy as some of these young people are, how exactly the protestors are using these various avenues? And which ones are still up and running, and which ones are pretty much shut down?

ROB FARIS, Berkman Center for Internet and Society: Well, they’ve (long pause on the air) — for a full protest, you’d want to use a lot of different Internet tools. We’ve seen Facebook and YouTube and many things very influential in places in the past. Particularly, the Obama administration’s use of online political tools was very powerful.

In Iran, it’s in the context of intense Internet regulation, as intense as any place around the world. And we’ve seen a recent increase in blocking of Internet sites, including a large majority of the sites most frequented by the reformist sectors in the Iranian blogosphere, and a lot of marquee sites, so Facebook, and YouTube, and Twitter have all been blocked, which takes a big chunk of Internet traffic out of play in Iran.

As you can see, Faris did not even get close to answering her question, which she then proceeded to ask again, and he again danced away from it.

The take-away: If you don’t know the answers or a question is out of your expertise, clearly bridge or transition to your own expertise after answering the question briefly or, better yet, decline the interview opportunity in the first place.

You can read the entire interview by clicking here. NewsHour’s other guest in the segment, Reza Aslan of UC-Riverside, was very informed by comparison to Faris.

Filed Under: Featured • News Media

Tags: Margaret Warner • NewsHour • Robert Faris