BBC Interview Research

What is your favourite interview and why?
'The Themes of Maya Angelou', is an interview I have repeatedly watched and loved since I had first seen it. It is so easy to get drawn into this interview because of its very, personal, intimate and professional style and output. Jeremy Isaacs does a superb job of interviewing asking questions that shown he has researched the subject and knows her history. His formal style of interviewing has been used to his advantage and asks some risky and vulnerable questions which an informal style of interviewer might of struggled with, this made for a great interview keeping the audience fixated on their entertainment screens. Maya Angelou is an amazing woman who has fully lived every moment of her life, she makes for a truly astonishing interviewee. She is a role model to anyone and watching her is very satisfying and calming for the audience, she reminds me of a wise but blissfully happy grandma figure.
The quote, ’I know a diamond is the result of extreme pressure, less time and less pressure and it could be crystal, coal, fossilized leaves, or just dirt; but time and pressure will create a diamond’, Since I have heard this quote I have adopted it and applied it to myself, as I feel the meaning of this is worthwhile to remember, this defiantly assists me to push that extra step in life, always resulting in a fulfilling and positive outcome. 

What is the best question and why?

Jeremy Isaacs: “At President Clinton’s inauguration, you wrote and performed a poem, on the pulse of morning, you was the first poet to do so since Robert Frost spoke at Kennedy’s; what does that poem that you spoke then say to us?

It is the best question because it is very in-depth, and it shows that the interviewer knows her history well, which gives a very polished and professional  and also that the audience can understand more about Maya Angelou and make a judgment of her power status, and popularity.

What is the worst question and why?

Terry Wogan: “Come Back to say your sorry ehh?”

Freddie Star’s Repsonse: “Yeahh…After all this time it’s been two years”.

To be honest it’s an alright introductory question but there wasn’t much point in it, but is really a humorous question.

What is the funniest response? What question prompted it?

David Frost: “What’s the result of the big fight?”

Muhammad Ali responded with a long and very entertaining answer where he rhymed his words to get the audience and TV viewers to get pumped up for the fight against George Foreman.

What is the most emotional response? What question prompted it?

John Freeman: “Have you during this period, which have must have been very great strain for you, have you felt frightened or even lonely in your position of leadership?”

Dr. Martin Luther King: “Yes at times I think honesty impales me to admit that I have in those times that I’ve actually confronted fear, err I don’t think anyone in a situation like this cant go through this without confronting moments of real fear…”

Who’s your favorite interviewer and why?

Jeremy Isaacs interviewing Maya Anglelou is great, and it is because of Isaacs’s formal Interviewing technique, but also partly because Maya is a very good speaker. He gets straight down to the point without being interrogative or aggressive, and structures the interview so that the audience can viewing will be interested in the interview. He picks on things only slightly to get a reaction out of the audience, for example: at the start of the interview he lists all her ‘jobs’ shes done in the past and he cheekily mentions that she’s been a prostitute, which he will know get a reaction out of the audience.