Why 'Scoop' should be essential watching for press offices

I recently caught up with Scoop on Netflix – the inside story of how Newsnight secured that interview with Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

As a piece of drama it’s high quality, stacked with a top-notch cast. However, aside from this it’s ultimately a story about journalism and how national institutions manage media relations. It should serve as a salutary reminder of what can happen when they ignore sensible advice from experienced PR professionals.

Clearly, Scoop is ‘based on factual events’ so we need to allow for dramatic licence, but this is essentially a tale about the dangers of entering into a high-risk situation - a televised interview with Emily Maitlis, one of the UK’s most formidable journalists - without the necessary due diligence, despite strong advice to the contrary.

As a media relations professional for the last 30 years, I’ve advised a wide variety of organisations and individuals, from senior government ministers to CEOs, on how best to approach press interviews. A key part of my role is assessing whether it’s in their interests to participate in the first place and to weigh up whether the potential benefits are worth the reputational risk of an interview going badly, and vice versa.

In the case of the Duke v Newsnight, it seems like this assessment wasn’t there.

Should you be doing this?

The first question you need to be asking is ‘what’s in it for us?’ and will you be exposing yourself to unnecessary risk by participating?

Assuming the benefits outweigh the risks, you then need to assess the competence of your subject. Are they confident enough to verbally spar with a national inquisitor of Maitlis’ standing?

Not everyone is a natural media performer. Even the most bullish and confident CEO can be a rottweiler in the Boardroom one minute, but dissolve into a babbling, incoherent mess in front of a TV camera, the next. Conversely, those who are used to positions of authority and prominence, say for example, Princes of the Realm, are so used to deference in their daily lives, that they aren’t prepared for the direct and sometimes confrontational approach of a journalist, and can find themselves tripping up as a result.

Prepare, prepare, and prepare again

Before you expose even the most seasoned performer to trial by television, some robust media training is essential. Even better if that training can be provided by a third party, who isn’t restricted by office politics and can therefore be a critical friend far more easily than an in-house team might feel they are able to.

I once worked with a senior Board member of a company who repeatedly refused to have any training, convinced of his capabilities despite clear evidence to the contrary. I knew it was going to be a career-limiting discussion if I had pressed the point.

It's essential to appreciate the capabilities of your subject before exposing them to the harsh inquisition of interviewers. ?Simply put, if they’re not a safe pair of hands, it’s best to avoid the risk. Suffice to say, our Board member didn’t get his moment in the sun.

You can use media training to practise your messaging and work out the answers to the toughest questions – the ones you hope will never get asked. Chances are these are exactly the ones you’ll be facing.

Trust your media professionals

It’s easy to be seduced by broadcast media. It’s glamorous, exciting, and it can be tempting to be flattered into accepting an appearance that may not be as seductive as it may appear.

This is where the media relations professional comes in - to protect your reputation. Yes, we’re there to promote your organisation’s aims, objectives, and business development, but we’re also there to defend you and act as that all important buffer between you and the media. It’s why so many journalists try to bypass press offices when getting guests, so that they can catch a subject in an off-guard moment and secure a soundbite before the pesky PR can put a stop to it.

None of this is, as they say, rocket science. And it seems extraordinary that the Palace apparently agreed to the Newsnight interview without any so-called ‘red lines’ or conditions being in place from the outset. One assumes this isn’t a mistake they’ll be repeating any time soon.

The one member of the Palace team who emerges with any credibility from the drama is the media advisor Jason Stein, who is seen to lobby against the interview, only to resign when his counsel is rebuffed. I’ve been asking myself what I would do in his situation; would I have tried to stick with it to try and ensure the situation didn’t spiral out of control? Or, as Stein realised, only a couple of months into his role, that he clearly wasn’t trusted, and that with the damage already done, the safest course of action was to get out of there quick with his professional reputation intact?

In the end, we know what the resulting broadcast did to the reputations of both the Duke and his office.

Top tips to consider

1.??????? Take caution. When a hard-hitting news programme seeks an interview it’s unlikely to be a puff piece. If you’re prepared for the worst, it won’t be a nasty shock when the inevitable ‘killer questions’ come along. That’s not to say that every journalist is automatically trying to grab a ‘gotcha’ moment, but they will do if you hand it to them on a silver salver.

2.??????? Prepare, prepare, prepare. Draft all the questions you can possibly think of and practice the answers so that they sound natural. Think of all the pitfalls you can.

3.??????? Test your messaging. This is where a critical friend comes in useful. Does your answer sound reasonable? In the case of Scoop, what was missing from the interview was any degree of empathy with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein. It’s an omission which did more than anything to cement the duke’s diminution in status.