Larry O’Connor is a busy man. He hosts O’Connor & Company in morning drive on 105.9 WMAL in Washington D.C. He also has a podcast with Salem Podcast Network, which airs on Salem News Channel, and is a regular on primetime shows on Newsmax.
And while many of those are in the similar vein, there are distinct differences between a podcast, radio, and television interview.
So, I decided to check in on O’Connor & Company on WMAL to see how someone who has to be skillful at all three mediums conducts an interview.
On Friday, Larry O’Connor welcomed Morgan Ortagus — Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East — to his morning show. As you may have heard, things aren’t exactly stable in the Middle East, so having someone like Ortagus on the show is a great get by the WMAL host. Additionally, President Donald Trump
The first question from O’Connor to Ortagus was…wordy.
“Listen, for those who don’t remember, you worked in the State Department when the Abraham Accords had been crafted,” O’Connor began. “And that was a huge triumph for the first administration. A lot of people are watching this trip and seeing all of the great imagery, great projection of American power and diplomatic skills with these Arab nations — a place that we need to have a great relationship — and we need to be able to forge these relations, especially after the neglect from the prior administration.
“There is concern, though, about our greatest ally there. I know you care deeply about the state of Israel, and potentially messages being sent by the president with regard to deals with Syria, deals with Iran. These are countries that, historically, I don’t think you can really make a deal with them. How could we possibly? So what’s happening there?”
To me, this is a textbook example of one of the deadly sins of interviewing. Larry O’Connor is a smart dude. He knows his stuff. But that can be a detriment during an interview. Because he doesn’t have to show the guest — or his audience — how much he knows. They agreed to come on the show — or listen to the show, from the audience’s perspective — because they know that you know your stuff.
The whole point of the question is to get an answer from the subject. To share information with your listeners. O’Connor already has credibility with the guest and the audience. So, instead of taking almost a minute to showcase his knowledge on the topic, I think O’Connor would have likely been significantly better served by a much more succinct question.
Compounding the problem is that long questions often lead to long answers. Which isn’t exactly great radio. Ortagus spoke for more than three minutes following O’Connor’s long question, and it wasn’t all that illuminating of an answer.
The next question from the interview came from co-host Patrice Onwuka. She asked the Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East a question about where peace talks between Ukraine and Russia stand. It’s an important question, and one that’s likely of high importance to WMAL listeners. But read that sentence again: the envoy to the Middle East was asked about a European war. That feels like a self-explanatory criticism.
O’Connor’s second question of the conversation regarded the status of the conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. He asked if President Trump could foresee a peaceful resolution that involved Hamas continuing to function. It’s a good question, because — like what we’ve seen in Ukraine — this conflict could continue for quite a while if the goal isn’t “completely eliminate the enemy.” This was a much better-framed and much more succinct question by the WMAL host.
It led to a firm answer — the best answer that Ortagus gave, frankly — because of the direct nature of the question. I actually am really impressed by the framing of the question by the O’Connor & Company host because it is an open-ended question, but it almost boxes the respondent into a close-ended, yes or no, answer.
In my time doing these interview dissections, I don’t know that I’ve come across such an effectively worded question. He nailed down the interview subject to give a direct, no-nonsense answer that required her to actually answer the question. That’s the goal, right?
Those were the only questions asked during the just-under-seven-minute interview. Obviously, Ortagus is busy. That, coupled with being up against a commercial break, led to a short conversation, which was largely hampered by the first question from Larry O’Connor, which led to the long answer.
Overall, I think it’s clear O’Connor came in with a mission and a prioritization of what questions he wanted to get across. There really wasn’t an opportunity to deviate from the plan, due to Ortagus giving largely expected answers — “President Trump? Greatest to ever do it. Joe Biden? Idiot.” — which didn’t warrant vacating the script.
Like every interview, it wasn’t perfect. But the last question was especially effective and impressive.
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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.
