A few years ago, I attended a lecture by a media consultant.  The job of the consultant was to prepare people who were scheduled to be interviewed on television or on the radio.  Much of what he said in the lecture made sense, but there was something important that bothered me.  It took me a while to figure it out. The consultant made two interesting points about the need for such preparation.  The first was that in this era, everything that happens in, or even around, the studio is likely to be in the accessible permanent record – even if the microphone and the camera are supposed to be dead.  There is no escape from what you say.  Years later, it may be used against you.  This is true of all modern media including Facebook, Twitter, and smartphone photography.  Beware! The second point he made was specifically about broadcast interviews.  This was a corollary of the first: prepare your talking points very carefully and stick...(Read Full Article)