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The Media Trainers®
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Built-in premises are so much fun. A reporter’s imagination on what people are “thinking or saying” is limitless when it comes to building questions around them. And the fun only increases when the interviewee accepts the premise as true, or at least worth responding to on the reporter’s terms. Of course, premises can be based on fact, but they often are posed as universal and unanimous.
Typically, this is where agendas collide. You have the right to stick with your own agenda, especially when it does not coincide with the premise so neatly woven within the question.
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CTIA president Tom Wheeler |
The Dangers of Cell Phones
The advent of cell phone usage, especially by the driving public, has been controversial for a few years now. In some places, like New York State, it’s illegal to use a phone that is not hands-free while you’re operating a motor vehicle. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has been the lightning rod organization responding to this and other controversies.
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CTIA president Tom Wheeler, at the height of the hands-free debate, appeared on a Fox News Channel program hosted by Brenda Butner. The interview was peppered with built-in premises and assumptions.
- “Are cell phones a road hazard?”
- “…a lot of drivers are up in arms about this…”
- “How threatened is the industry by this?”
To his credit, Wheeler came with his own agenda: that the driver is responsible for operating a vehicle safely, first and foremost. He supported his agenda with the CTIA’s ongoing education program designed to make drivers much more aware of their responsibility behind the wheel. |
The Media Trainers® Re–winder Reminder:
- Listen closely and you'll usually hear the built-in premise. Pause and give yourself time to respond positively, rather than debating, denying or correcting.
- Often the question will include a word or phrase you can adopt for a responsive answer that keeps you on message.
- Built-in premises often are based on the reporter's own assumptions, feelings or biases, or the result of one or two people they've spoken to about the subject. Just because they present it as fact, you don't have to buy into it.
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The Media Trainers®, LLC, has a Tough Questions eBook on our Web site that you can download free for easy reference.
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