As you’re likely aware, late last week, a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River in New York, killing all the passengers aboard the aircraft. After the news broke, The Mark Blazor Show on 610 WTVN in Columbus tried to get to the bottom of what happened.
Mark Blazor helms afternoon drive at the iHeartMedia Columbus news/talk station. Despite not airing until 3 PM the day following the crash, there were still plenty of questions about the incident.
To get to the bottom of the situation, Blazor welcomed ABC News correspondent Luke Barr to share the latest details about the situation.
One of the true tests of how well an interviewer is at conducting these conversations, in my estimation, is balancing the high-wire act of getting detailed information from those who have it, while also remaining sensitive and respectful to the gravity of the situation.
So, I was encouraged by the strategy The Mark Blazor Show host utilized to begin the conversation with Barr, by simply pointing out how tragic the situation was and asking “What is the very latest?”
Because, in all likelihood, the story was the top item in the top-of-the-hour newscast on the station throughout the day and had been discussed ad nauseam. And yet, there were likely still unreported — or perhaps underreported — details of the incident. So by simply setting up the guest to be the star, Blazor got out of the way and let his guest shine. Barr has the information the listeners want. What’s the easiest way to get it to them? The path that the 610 WTVN host took.
After Barr’s answer on the latest details, Blazor stumbled into a spot that many interviewers find themselves in. He didn’t ask a question. He pointed out that there had been videos of the situation circulating, showing the helicopter sitting upside down in the water, while it appeared as if both rotors of the aircraft had been damaged and were gone. He finished by remarking “It’s incredibly odd the way this whole thing has played out.”
That’s not a question. That’s a statement. It doesn’t do anything to advance the conversation or to really draw more information out of the guest for the listener.
This is often not an issue during interviews because guest expects to respond to those remarks. And, with Barr being a pro, he knows that his job is to share information as quickly as possible, because I’m sure if I perused around the news/talk and all-news worlds on Friday, I’m sure I’d find him appearing on more than just 610 WTVN in the afternoon.
But it’s an important reminder to those conducting interviews: Ask questions. Don’t make statements and expect the guest to respond to what you have said. Especially in these hard-news interviews. It is a little more forgivable when it truly is a conversation during a talk show, because that is often how conversations just naturally evolve.
In a news situation, though, I think it is important to ask short, clear, open-ended questions.
However, that was that. It was an insanely short interview by Blazor. Which brings me to something I’ve never really touched on in this space, but I believe this situation might be the best exhibit of this.
You cannot be hurt by the questions you don’t ask. Any time you’re in a breaking news situation, it is easy to posit, make assumptions, ask wildly ineffective and borderline offensive questions. But Mark Blazor didn’t do that in this situation. He asked for the latest details, and then pointed out there were some irregularities with what usually transpires in these situations.
There were no leading questions about how government cutbacks have led to major staffing issues in air traffic controller towers. No questions about whether or not there had been some nefarious actors or if there were any conspiracy theories that needed to be addressed.
There is a time and a place for all of that hullabaloo. But, it isn’t the day after a tragedy. So I applaud Mark Blazor for handling the situation with respect and class. He had a firm grasp on the situation, on why the news was important, and what details he believed were most important to get to his audience. That deserves commendation.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
