Anybody work in the media who can answer this?

[gildalilly]

When politicians are booked on to TV or radio shows are they given a list of questions that are going to be asked in advance?
Also, do they say what they are and aren't willing to talk about?
I ask as it seems as though obvious questions are never asked of them and they are never pinned down to an actual answer but skirt around the issue and obfuscate.
I wondered if it was all set up and agreed in advance and shows know that they won't get them booked if they give them a hard time.
Can anyone in the industry help on what happens?

Nobody?

It entirely depends on the show tbh and how aggressive/ savvy their pr team is, how much they want they coverage/exposure, who approached who about the appearance etc.

It’s been a long time, but it would really depend.

When I worked for the BBC we would refuse to submit questions in advance. When working on commercial radio we would sometimes do so for celeb interviews - they would often also have lists of topics you couldn’t ask about and you’d get very limited time.

I’ve never had a politician give a list of what cannot be discussed but they are very skilled at skirting away from topics even when directly questioned.

I used to work for BBC Radio News and there would be quite a bit of pressure by MPs aides before and during certain interviews. Some aides would be there in person during it, some would phone and scream down the phone. Blair's team comes to mind. Not a very pleasant bunch of people really but while we would always give a broad outline of questioning, no specifics were given beforehand. There are some MPs who'll be put up very rarely as they perform so badly too.
MPs are now trained in not answering difficult questions, which is enormously frustrating as a listener and some interviewers are too interested in their own voices to let an interview breathe, which is when you can really uncover some answers or catch someone out.

Thanks. Some interesting insights here. So basically they receive 'avoiding the question' training?!

Yes, they receive media training, ironically usually from former journalists!

See, I'm not at all surprised that they have this training, BUT I always think, wouldn't it be better for them to be upfront and answer properly? I mean, we can all see when they're dodging and obfuscating. Wouldn't we have more respect for a politician who appeared open and direct?

I mean, I know their whole schtick is never admitting to anything, but I'd have more time for a politician who said, you know, "That was wrong / poorly handled, but here is what we've done / are going to do to fix it," or "I don't have those figures to hand, but you're quite right to ask, and I'll chase them up post haste"

@WellThankyouAJPTaylor I completely agree! It would be so refreshing to feel that they recognised and accepted that they could have done better. As it is there's no point in watching any political 'debate' or TV interviews as it's just bullshit after bollocks after lies. This is why I'd really like an interviewer to pin them down and push for answers. Hence my original question as to whether it was tightly controlled.