Los Angeles 
Today’s cautionary tale can be boiled down to two very important media tenets:
1) Always anticipate reporter questions, especially the ones you hope you don’t get.
2) If you need consultants to save you in the middle of an interview, it may have been unwise to talk in the first place.
The dangers of ignoring these imperatives were on full display when former Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade sat down with CNN’s Katlan Collins. The thing is, he didn’t stay seated for long. Watch what happened when Collins asked him to clarify the timeline of his relationship with Fulton County DA and Trump prosecutor Fani Willis.
Don’t Huddle in the Middle of a Play
It’s unclear, as of this writing, whether the people who interrupted Wade’s interview were attorneys, aides, or perhaps media consultants. But whoever they were, the time for coaching was before the interview, not during. Keep in mind that the mere presence of attorneys or other “minders” during an interview raises a reporter’s suspicions. Having them interrupt the interview –even a pre-recorded one– is a terrible look.
Sometimes You Can See the Train That Hits You
The question around the relationship timeline is seen as central to the issue of Fani Willis’s fitness to prosecute Trump. How could Wade have been so unprepared? Even after the intervention, his message was muddled.
CNN to Wade: Thanks for the Clicks!
Did you hear the voice in the background say, “Keep rolling!” when Wade got up? That was the producer, realizing something good was falling into his lap. Interviewus Interruptus –usually perpetrated by lawyers– enhances the sense of drama around an interview and gives the story legs it wouldn’t otherwise have grown.
It would be one thing if Wade had a critical story to tell. But I’m not really sure why he granted the interview in the first place. And I can only hope that whatever his team prevented him from saying would have been much more damaging than the spectacle they created by “saving” him.
