The good, the bad and the ugly
As we welcome in the New Year, let’s take a quick look back at some of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly media moments of 2022. From Sky News’s Beth Rigby’s scathingly forensic interrogation of Liz Truss to the downright strange press conference held by Gianni Infantino as the World Cup started.

Lizzie Costelloe, Catherine Eastham and Jon Atkins give their views on the very best and very worst media moments of the year.  They give students of media training some excellent pointers: did they get their intended messages across, what type of interviewer did they come up against and how well did they do?

Let’s start with the good…. from one of our media trainers Lizzie Costelloe, managing director Brand & Retail:

Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the RMT Union, has spent much of the year making headlines.  As the focal point of ‘the biggest rail strike in modern history’ he could be expected to generate fierce reactions from the railway-using general public.

Instead, with each interview, he has created more fans - and potentially converts to the RMT cause.

Despite being slammed by all types of media interview techniques - from the rude ‘interrupters’ (Richard Madeley) to the comical ‘dart throwers’ to get a rise or unintended reaction (Piers Morgan) - Lynch has in the main part remained calm, controlled, measured and ‘on script’.  He has, without doubt won most, if not all, of these combative verbal duels.

Two examples show his skills in action.

Throughout the summer, he appeared on Good Morning Britain on ITV multiple times. In his first appearance with Richard Madeley, Lynch was accused of being “socially irresponsible” and “abusing his power” as a union leader – strong words indeed! The unflappable Lynch corrected Richard with “this is not an abusive power, it is a right” and steered the interview away from the negative.  He cleverly brought in the human interest element that made the conversation not about drivers wanting more cash, but about the situation impacting real men and women.  Throughout, Lynch outlined his three clear messages – safety, workers’ rights and pay.

In June, Lynch appeared on TALK TV with Piers Morgan. Piers, the righteous, argumentative and excitable interviewer, began the interview by mocking Lynch on his twitter handle image of 1960s SciFi cartoon Thunderbirds’ the Hood, ‘the most dangerous man on earth’. Lynch countered with understated humour, asking, “Am I the most evil person in the world?” and skilfully brought the interview back to being about fighting for workers’ rights. Piers continued grinding the axe, while Lynch mocked Morgan by asking “don’t you want to talk about the issues, not an image on Twitter?” Eventually the interview got back on track, with Lynch steering back to the issues he wanted to discuss using his bridging techniques to get back on message.

The rail strikes still cause emotions to run high.  But Mick Lynch’s calm, collected manner and clear, people-focused messages have made it hard for interviewers to demonise him in the way of the 1970s trade union barons.

If you want to find out more, please get in touch: Lizzie.costelloe@fourcommunications.com or Jonathan.atkins@fourcommunications.com