American media expert: Journalists, stop asking double questions policy

American media expert Kelly McBridi believes that asking two questions at one time to an official, especially during press conferences, reduces the chances of the journalist to have an answer to either of them.

McBraide set an example of what happened, a few days ago, during the press conference that brought together US President Donald Trump and the Secretary -General of NATO recently at the White House.

According to the media expert, the first question posed to Trump and his narration was great: What led you to make this decision, was it a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin or intelligence information?

Trump and his narration were talking in that morning about the new agreement – between the United States and NATO – to provide Ukraine with weapons to counter the ongoing Russian attack.

According to the media expert, while Trump was about to answer that question, the correspondent Jackie Heinrich of Fox News asked a second question: Why do you give them 50 additional days? In reference to the secondary customs fees that Trump threatened to impose a penalty if Putin did not succeed in reaching peace within 50 days.

McBraide says that both questions were good, but when journalists ask two questions at the same time they weaken their chances of obtaining an answer to either of them, because that method gives the respondent the opportunity to choose one or both questions.

McBraide believes that Trump is skilled not to answer the direct questions posed by journalists and interlocutors. So, there is no guarantee that he would have answered the questions even if Heinrich asks them one by one.

The media expert describes the situation in that press conference by saying: Trump began answering the first question, “I think that …”, when the second question came to him, changed the course of his speech “well, I think it is very short. War was never to happen.

McBraide believes that journalists often become rollers or neglected when asking questions in conferences and journalistic gatherings, they are highly pressure positions and difficult to prepare for them, so the questions are often spontaneous.

But the best questions – according to the American media expert – are simple and direct questions, which ask one by one. She adds that many journalists in North America have learned these lessons from Canadian journalist John Swatzky.

Swatzky has alerted journalists repeatedly on the need to ask open questions, that is, that cannot be answered with “yes” or “no” and stressed that they listen and ask follow -up questions, such as “Can you say more about that?” Or “Why?” Journalists also learned that they would never ask two questions at the same time.

McBraide adds that it is easy for us to understand why journalists ask the double questions in direct press conferences, and if one of them had an opportunity to ask the president, then he wants to be their question important, and by asking two questions, they put their bet on several options, in the hope that one of them will be answered at least, but with Trump, the most important information comes from a simple and direct question.