Could You Survive an Interview on “Newsnight?”

ENTERTAINMENT

By: Zoe Samuel

6 Min Quiz

Image: BBC

About This Quiz

Five nights a week, Britain turns to the most trusted news programme for the facts. "Newsnight" is about the same age as MTV, but it's hard to imagine a media landscape without it. Unlike other news programmes, "Newsnight" specialises in investigative magazine segments, deep dives that pull no punches as they provide audiences with the unadulterated facts, even if they may be heartbreaking. With such a talented investigative team at its disposal, it should be no surprise that "Newsnight" interviewers go into their interviews better prepared than almost any journalists. Politicians, businessmen and cultural figures have gone on "Newsnight" only to be eviscerated by an interviewer who has done their homework and gives no quarter.

A successful visit to the "Newsnight" studio must involve several factors, not all of them under one's control. First, the interview subject must know what they are getting into. Second, they must not have any skeletons in their closet the interviewer might bring out during the interview. Third, they must be prepared for the worst, both with a strategy and with responses to pointed questions. Finally, they must be able to keep their cool, because nothing turns a soundbite into a meme like an interviewee having an on-camera meltdown. Do you think you could survive a grilling on "Newsnight"?

One must be newsworthy. For what reason would "Newsnight" have you on?

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What kind of decision maker are you? Where are you in the hierarchy?

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If host Emily Maitlis turned to you with a question that would mean angering someone with power over you, how would you respond?

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How does your body respond to extreme stress?

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Some people really do have a "tell" when they lie. What's yours?

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Assuming you could influence it, at what point in the show would you want to be interviewed?

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As it concerns things aside from your reason to appear on "Newsnight," how much about you is publicly known?

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Is there photographic evidence of your wrongdoing?

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When pressed, can you remember the times of events that involve you, but happened to people other than you?

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Do you ever wake up in the morning and wonder "Oh, God. What am I going to be told today?"

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Do you ever think you're incompetent?

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How do you react when called on how you chose to carefully phrase something?

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Are you prepared to take a strong ethical stance in front of the public?

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Can you stay on message when rattled?

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Let us assume you need to have a lot of figures at your disposal for your "Newsnight" appearance. Are you capable of holding them in your head while metaphorically under fire?

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What happens to the tone of your voice when you become agitated?

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Have you ever lied in any public statement?

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How much do you commit to statements that are less than in keeping with the truth?

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Are you capable of anticipating the personal quotes that an interviewer is likely to fire back at you for confirmation?

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What would you do if asked a patently negative question that could make your cause look bad?

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How would you steer from a question you don't like to the question you wish you were asked?

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What do new acquaintances say they like best about you?

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How likely is it a professional research team would find evidence of you having broken the law?

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Did you threaten to overrule him?

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What would you do if caught in a lie?

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What might a stranger find unappealing about you, upon first meeting you?

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How would you deal with a question so direct it feels impolite?

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Sometimes the only framing that can get you out of trouble is the moral frame. How easily would you be able to take the moral high ground, under sensitive questioning?

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When is it best to own a mistake?

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But did you threaten to overrule him?

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