 |
| Lennox Lewis |
People from across the world paid tribute to legendary boxer Joe Frazier following his untimely death in the early hours of this morning. In his prime "Smokin' Joe" was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He is perhaps best remembered though for his rivalry with Muhammad Ali. Frazier defeated Ali in a 1971 bout dubbed the 'Fight of the Century', and was bested by Ali on two further occasions.
Unsurprisingly the passing of this great sportsman has dominated the day's news agenda. Though the newspapers went to press too early to cover his death, broadcasters have used archive footage and new interviews with heavy hitters in the boxing fraternity to honour his memory.
Not every media outlet finished with aplomb. On this morning's 'Today' program BBC Sport's Garry Richardson interviewed another former world heavyweight champion, Britain's Lennox Lewis, about the impact of Frazier's death. What should have been a straightforward exchange instead exhibited some decidedly poor technique on the part of Richardson.
I have included the transcript of the 2-minute interview below and have highlighted every time Richardson asks a leading question (where the information he is looking for is included in the question) in bold. (You can also listen to the interview here).
Richardson: "Lennox, this is very, very sad news about Joe Frazier, he was one of boxing's greats wasn't he?"
Lewis: "He definitely was one of boxing's greats, he was legendary and he made a great contribution to boxing. I feel sad for his family and the whole situation. Nobody likes to hear about great heroes and legendary people passing on. This is very sad for boxing today."
Richardson: "He's one of those boxers that perhaps when you were growing up you would have thought 'he's a great, I would like to be like him one day.'"
Lewis: "Yeah. In a room filled of great men he's definitely one of them. Like I said, he's made his mark in boxing, everybody knows his history and he was a great man. Without him other boxing heroes wouldn't be great either because they really tested their talent against him."
Richardson: "He tested his talent, ultimately, against Muhammad Ali and actually managed to beat Muhammad Ali which for any boxer would be the most outstanding feat ever in a way, wouldn't it?"
Lewis: "It would. That's what I'm saying. His contribution to the sport is endless. Even that great fight he gave the public and his fans and the American audience."
Richardson: "He's one of those boxers that you would say, well, 'who's an all time great' and everybody would have an opinion but you'd put him up as one of the best, wouldn't you Lennox?"
Lewis: "Yes I would put him up there as one of the best. He is a remarkable man, he had the Joe Frazier style, everyone can remember it, there are certain boxers that try to mimic it. He brought us the up and down movement, the body movement, the head movement and he was one of the first boxers to bring that out."
That's every single question that Mr Richardson has posed a leading question or statement. I am disappointed that the producers on the Today program allowed such shoddy work to slip through the net. There is no excuse for poor interview technique. Mr Richardson may not be a hard hitting political hack forever duelling with verbose politicians but basic question and answer skills are surely a prerequisite of a job at this level.
Browsing Mr Richardson's preprepared notes would, I imagine, not be dissimilar to reading this transcript. It seems he had decided before he had even picked up the phone what he wanted Lewis to say, and by the sounds of things he got exactly what he was after.
What should have been a straightforward piece became a shining example of unprofessional journalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment