Why does 'The Times' think Brown's interview has 'eroded the dignity of his office'?
Gordon Brown’s interview with Piers Morgan eroded the dignity of his office
Piers Morgan interviews Gordon Brown: shades of Michael Aspel & Margaret Thatcher?
There is, after all, nothing new about embattled prime ministers taking the opportunity to appear in 'soft' talk shows.
'Meanwhile, the politicians hade their own ideas for diversifying the interview market. Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher's crusty press secretary, says he wass opposed to the decision to put the prime minister on Michael Aspel's ITV chat show in 1983, but was over-ruled by her image consultants.
'But she did so well - softening the Iron Lady image assembled in the miners' strike - that even Ingham became a convert to chat show politics. Soon Mrs T was in and out of Jimmy Young's Radio Two studio as often as the Today Programme.'
For me, her appearance in Aspel & Company had at least three memorable moments:
1. Where to sit?
The first came right at the start, when Mrs Thatcher pretends that she's not sure where to sit. Yet here was someone who never went into a television studio without the advice of former TV producer Gordon Reece, who had decided that, wherever possible, her left profile should be exposed to the camera.
Also note how 'dolled up' she is - which is thoroughly consistent with a point about her 'unambiguously recognisable femininity' that I made in an earlier post on the evolution of charismatic woman.
Nelson Mandela's speech on the day he was released from prison
Having waited for years for this historic event, anticipating something on a par with Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech, I remember being disappointed and surprised by what I saw and heard from the balcony of City Hall in Cape Town. It was only later that it dawned on me that this was another case where rousing rhetoric would have been completely counter-productive.
SCRIPT OF EXCERPT IN THE VIDEO:
The sight of freedom looming on the horizon should encourage us to redouble our efforts.
It is only through disciplined mass action that our victory can be assured. We call on our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South Africa. The freedom movement is a political home for you too. We call on the international community to continue the campaign to isolate the apartheid regime. To lift sanctions now would be to run the risk of aborting the process towards the complete eradication of apartheid.
Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters' roll in a united democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.
In conclusion I wish to quote my own words during my trial in 1964. They are as true today as they were then. I wrote:
'I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'
You can't judge book by its cover
- To celebrate the publication of Lend Me Your Ears in Russia on 19 February.
- To advertise my wares to British, American, Spanish and Russian audiences.
- To prove that famous quotations are sometimes literally true, as when 4 different covers = the same book within.
- To invite publishers in languages other than English, Spanish and Russian to write to me asking for a free copy to consider whether it might be worth translating.
Business Communicator of the Year 2010
The judges said: "During his tenure as President of the CBI Martin Broughton's speeches were witty, direct and controversial, making headlines and entertaining audiences. He can craft a phrase, select a great quotation and crack a good joke, which is extremely rare among top British executives and almost unheard of from a man trained as an accountant. His speeches should be studied by corporate communications departments as models of excellence."
The runners-up were Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England and Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy Group UK.
Snakes, ladders & the folly of Q-A campaigning
The day when Mrs Thatcher apologised (twice) for what she said in an interview
· Do interviews ever deliver anything but bad news for politicians and boredom for audiences?
· Will the 2010 UK general election be the first one to leave us speechless?
· Two more straight answers from Mandelson - about failed coups and the PM's rages
· Mandelson gives two straight answers to two of Paxman’s questions
· Rare video clip of a politician giving 5 straight answers to 5 consecutive questions
· Politician answers a question: an exception that proves the rule
· A Tory leader's three evasive answers to the same question
· Gordon Brown's interview technique: the tip of a tedious iceberg
· A prime minister who openly refused to answer an interviewer’s questions
· Why has Gordon Brown become a regular on the Today programme?