Money Magazine goes doorstepping
Corporate media interviews in Hong Kong are usually pretty tame. Last night’s edition of TVB’s Money Magazine, however, was an exception.
The program’s first segment was about Hong Kong people who had invested in a now-bankrupt resort in Thailand. In addition to interviews with unlucky investors, TVB send a video crew to the office of Colliers, which allegedly represented the Thai project in Hong Kong. And that’s where things got interesting.
First, a TVB crew accompanied a disgruntled investor on an unannounced visit to Colliers’ office. This is a classic TV reporting technique, called doorstepping, but is uncommon in Hong Kong. Colliers’ receptionist and front-line staff were clearly unprepared for this.
Then — in a segment that was almost certainly shot first — TVB interviewed Colliers executive Darien Bradshaw, who had been given a list of questions for the interview.
Bradshaw fell into the neophyte’s trap of believing that a reporter can only ask “approved” questions, and was visibly uncomfortable when the journalist began asking him about Colliers’ role in the Thai development. He then indignantly ended the interview.
There are several lessons here:
- Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by Hong Kong’s usually meek media.
- As we like to remind people in our media training programs, reporters can ask anything they like. They are not obliged to stick to a script.
- Prepare for difficult questions. That means having intelligent, appropriate responses and being able to handle tough questions gracefully.
- If your business is likely to attract negative attention, brief your receptionist and office manager about how to handle uninvited media.
TVB doesn’t post its shows to YouTube and this segment doesn’t seem to be online. It will air again on TVB Pearl on Saturday at 11:50 AM and on Wednesday at 12:55 AM.
In the meantime, kudos to TVB for an entertaining piece of reportage.
Update: The second half of the Money Magazine segment is now available on YouTube.
Posted: March 6th, 2010 under Random.
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