The interview was bad. Only Larry Madowo thinks it wasn’t.
The latest to add his voice is TV host Tim Njiru. Writing on his personal Facebook page, Tim urged Larry to learn from his colleagues Mark Masai and Debarl Inea, and greats like Larry King.
In a separate post, Tim told Larry that he should take viewer criticism seriously instead of adopting a ‘dismissive’ attitude.
Here are the posts.
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Dear Larry Madowo,
I succumbed to peer pressure and watched that much talked about interview you had with Moses Kuria. Hmmm, the lighting was good, sound was perfect and no distortion at all. In fact I was waiting to see people walking past the camera like they do in most of your shows. I will assume that the technical team are getting great salaries. Well done.
I am not a TV interview expert though years of sitting In front of people of all ages and backgrounds has taught me one thing ….. a great interviewer listens… Listens harder, picks cues from the interviewee then uses those cues to bring the topic to a simmering point. A clever interviewee will know when to stop (assuming the noose is tight)
“Raarey” ….. Moses Kuria knew very well you weren’t tightening his noose. I mean the guy has studied your demeanor so many times on your Friday shows and knew who he was going to face. Moses unlike most of your guests is very intelligent and well spoken. You had an opportunity to intelligently bring this one out, but instead you antagonized the the man who we expected to say something small about the family he missed while in prison. That could have opened a can of worms (But hey, it’s none of my business)
Here’s what I would recommend…. Take some time off… Learn a few tricks and tips from your colleagues Mark Masai and Debarl Inea…. Read a few quotes from the greatest Larry King. Tune to BBC radio and realize that even Mathew Bannister uses simple English to bring the best from his interviewees.
And lastly, “Raaahrey” we all know that your character revolves around your Happy socks (and many more); quite frankly, I have no problem with that. But Please for Christ sake and for the entire fraternity, pull up those happy socks.
I say the above because you are and will be judged by your last story.
Warm regards
Tim Njiru
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Disclaimer: This is not about settling scores…. A friend of mine said… And I quote….
“You do not interview for yourself. You do it for us. So if we say we didn’t like the final product, take us seriously because if you don’t, we will vote with our remotes. Ultimately, no matter how ‘ignorant’ one thinks we are, we as the audience are king! Ignore us, because we have never been in front of a microphone/camera, and we will teach you a lesson you’ll never forget. Secondly, it is completely unfair to dismiss people on the basis of their ‘ignorance’. It’s akin to saying that because I am not a doctor, I should have no opinion on the quality of medical care granted me or my loved ones. That dismissive attitude is why people slip from the top. If you don’t want our opinion, make it a private affair..the minute you come into my space, then all bets are off”
