He’s done it again! Jeremy Paxman’s most famous interview came when he asked Michael Howard the same question seventeen times. Fast forward to Tuesday 2nd June 2009 and here he is again, asking Williiam Hague the same question more than a dozen times. Watch it by pasting this into your browser: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8080379.stm
The Grand Inquisitor once admitted that his approach to all interviews with politicians was “why is this lying b*****d lying to me?” A healthy approach, we agree. But the killer tactic of repeating, and repeating, and repeating has, in our view, the opposite effect to what is intended. It makes the interviewee look good. Particularly in the case of Michael Howard – watch it by pasting this into your browser: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7740130.stm . In each case, as the politician finds a way to respond without accepting Paxman’s point of view, they show themselves to be mentally agile. We have a sneaking suspicion that Paxman knows this.
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