... to call for more sensitive interviewing of young athletes?

[hepsitemiz]

I mean, is it too much to ask?

Today the BBC intercepted a GB olympic diver who had just performed disappointingly. I'm afraid I didn't retain her name, but she was being touted as a medal hope.

To paraphrase the interviewer quite liberally, he said something along the lines of "you were hoping for a medal and you only came 6th. How does that make you feel?"

How could he not have died of shame when her face crumpled and she said that basically not so long ago she was suicidal, so was just happy to be here and supported by her family. With all the signs being that she could barely hold it together, and after she pointedly repeated that she just wanted to to see her family poolside, he said something like "not so fast, let's delve a little more into why, despite your obvious talent, you missed out on a medal this time".

I mean, do they get extra points when they make someone cry?

IITMTA for more sensitive post-performance interviews?

YABU - yes, it is too much to ask
YANBU - no, it is not too much to ask

Exactly. It’s ghoulish and turned into some sort of voyeuristic car crash. It’s absolutely foul.

Oh the poor Andrea Spendolini -Sirrex was hiccuping with crying and he just wouldn't let her go see her family

There was a runner earlier sorry can't remember her name and again she hadn't got through her heat and she was still processing what had happened and you could tell she just wanted to get out of there and concentrate on the repacharge tomorrow

It's not the first time they've done that this Olympics. There was another case last week where they were interviewing a woman in tears!

I've complained as well. It felt exploitative. She was upset and didn't have the experience to sidestep the cameras to go to her mum, or to tell them they could have their interview later.

Any person good enough to be chosen to represent their country on a global stage deserves respect. Not some idiot asking "how do you feel?"

here's the interview for anyone who hadn't seen it
https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1820828631645475301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1820828631645475301%7Ctwgr%5Eb3ecc9f3446e4e2abbe3a2c90b77aef7a217cc0a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gbnews.com%2Fcelebrity%2Fbbc-olympics-outrage-andrea-spendolini-siriex-grilling
I've got to say OP that I agree your interpretation of the opening question was very liberal, not just quite, and made it sound a lot worse than what he actually said.

I don't see anything wrong in what he said at that point ('Andrea, it wasn't meant to be in the end, you finished sixth...and I could just see how emotional you were as you finished your final dive, just tell us how you're feeling'). All of that was completely factual, and to be asked how they are feeling is surely the most standard post performance interviewing question out there? It would be weird if they conducted an interview without it!

I think it's completely unreasonable to suggest he should have 'died of shame' when she mentioned something he would have had no way of knowing she would bring up in response to a very standard interview question. There are multiple other interviews with her online to different outlets, media and print, where she's reiterated her previous suicidal intentions, so it's obviously something she is happy to discuss and doesn't consider shameful (as of course she shouldn't!). If anything it's very brave of her to bring that sort of mental health awareness to a public stage and be comfortable speaking about it.

Absolutely agree that he should have stopped it as soon as she said she wanted to go over and see her family though, everything after that part was inappropriate and unnecessary.

Yanbu she comes across as such a lovely person and how she was interviewed when so fragile was cruel. I hope her dad was there to give her a hug

Yeah I really didn't think while Andrea was sobbing and full of emotion it was the fairest time to interview her.

But there's been some dodgy interviews when athletes weren't upset with their result.

But get to Peaty and Murray and they could set the stadium on fire and they'd be hailed as hero's.

One of the best interviewers I've even seen at a live event was John Mason at the swimming trials.

@1offnamechange
The bottom line is what did anyone gain from that interview? I hope he could see she was very upset even before he started his pointless questions. If he couldn't he needs a new career.

It was awful. I saw this too. The poor girl just wanted to be with her family and she is very young. Thank you to the poster who shared the link of how to complain. I will do so.

On the off chance she or any of her family see this, I really hope she knows that she has done so well and we are all proud of her. Just getting there is an amazing feat.

What a great idea.

Oh yes, I've just commented on another thread. It was so upsetting.
The poor girl was doing that awful juddery crying breathing thing that won't stop no matter how hard you try to make it.
She needed some peace and a good hug, not that!!
I hope a lot of people complain...so insensitive!

I meant it was shameful that he carried on when she’d said she wanted to see her family. Pushing and pushing with no humanity - repulsive.

I’m unable to see the video for some reason but agree they should not interview the athletes until they have received their medals and be given a chance to gather themselves.

I would definitely be supportive of guidance making it clear that athletes can decline/postpone interviews if they want rather than having a camera shoved in their face the moment they leave the track/pool/whatever

but criticising someone for a) something they didn't actually say and b) not being a mind reader and knowing exactly how someone is going to respond to their question is unfair.

she agreed to be interviewed and knew what he was going to ask - it's not as if she thought he was going to grab her to ask her favourite flavour of ice cream or her thoughts on the current riots - every single athlete is asked 'how do you feel' post performance whether they performed well or not.

If she didn't want to do the interview or felt she had nothing 'to gain' from it she should have been supported to refuse it, but given she didn't, I think it is ridiculous to suggest someone should 'die of shame' for asking a standard, expected and innocuous question.

Whether he should have been ashamed for carrying on with the interview after she had made clear she wanted to end it is (as I thought I made perfectly clear) a completely different thing.

I'm not defending the guy - I think he was inappropriate. Just saying that OP's summary of what happened wasn't very accurate - which she acknowledged herself.

I have complained. I can’t see how the BBC can be proud of that ‘emotional’ interview.

Uncomfortable viewing watching a 19 yr old sobbing girl being grilled by a BBC interviewer- he just have just let her go

Just seen it repeated on tonight’s coverage.

Horrible.

Complain to the BBC - I have just done so. They might not listen, but if everyone does it may get some consideration.

Some of them have a terrible attitude. There’s no reason why in your example the interviewer couldn’t have framed it as a positive, you didn’t quite get a medal but wow you’re still 6th in the world, how does it feel to be a part of this experience, etc etc.

@1offnamechange
Yes well he didn't need to be a mind reader, just an ordinary, observant human being, like journalists should be.
He was presented with a girl who was so upset that she couldn't control her sobs despite trying. At that point he should have wrapped it up PDQ. She wasn't in the position of authority at that moment; he was.

She was at that stage of hiccuping crying. I found it horrible to watch and just wanted to give her a hug. I couldn’t believe it when she said she wanted to go to her Mum and the interviewer said just one more thing!

YANBU - the press can be absolute arseholes.

And I'm a journalist.

And she’d already got a bronze in synchro last week 🥉 A wonderful diver and fabulous role model.

Given the young age of many of the athletes, it is really concerning that these kind of stupid questions seem to be the norm. I saw a couple of interviews today (a girl who fell in a race, too) which really bothered me. It really needs to be addressed.