 "Oprah might be the loser in the Armstrong interview")
Imagine Indian Express releasing an ad in the newspapers giving The Times of India advice on what the paper should ask someone that they have announced an exclusive interview with. It’s no longer so fanciful, one media house giving advice, openly, to another. The Sunday Times took out full page ads in a few US newspapers in the form of an open letter to Oprah Winfrey after her exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong was announced. [caption id=“attachment_587132” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
AP[/caption] Why would The Sunday Times do this? See the ad at the end of this post. The post script in the open letter leaves one in no doubt as to why the paper decided to release the ad. “The Sunday Times is seeking to recover about $1.5 million it claims he got by fraud. He used Britain’s draconian libel laws against us.” The Times’ aggression doesn’t end with the ad. The ad urges readers to learn more about the Armstrong issue and their stand on it by visiting their archives of Armstrong stories. Once you visit the site, readers are urged to send in more questions for Oprah to ask. “On Thursday 17 January, 2013, Oprah Winfrey will conduct the first interview with Armstrong since he was stripped of his titles and banned from professional cycling for life. The 90-minute programme will be broadcast worldwide, airing at 2am on the Discovery Channel in the UK. Those with questions for Armstrong are invited to tweet@TheSTMagazine and @ST_Sport with your suggestions. Be sure to include#AskLance in your tweets.” The Sunday Times wants to make sure that the Oprah interview is not a soft, friendly, PR exercise – though Oprah says it will not be one. “Oprah Winfrey will speak exclusively with Lance Armstrong in his first no-holds-barred interview. Armstrong will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career,” Oprah’s PR statement says. At the crux of the issue is how unbarred the ’no-holds-barred’ interview will be. The Sunday Times is ratcheting up the pressure, making certain that Armstrong is forced into a corner and that Oprah will not let him off the hook. If Oprah chooses to keep the interview a friendly one, the loser, at the end of the interview, could be Oprah Winfrey herself.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.