The broadcast political interview and strategies used by politicians: how the Australian prime minister promoted the Iraq War

Abstract

This article seeks to identify strategies used by politicians in broadcast media interviews. It does so by focusing on a case study of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his strategies in interviews at a key political moment ' when justifying his position on the domestically unpopular policy of Australia participating in the Iraq War in 2003. Howard used five key strategies in his media interviews: boring interviewers and his audience; repetition (staying on message); creating, and capitalizing on, an atmosphere of fear and insecurity; controlling the flow of the interview; and evasion. Examining these strategies and their impact allows us to reflect more broadly on the value of the political interview today. © 2008 SAGE Publications.