Sir David Frost – an inspiration to all journalists (of a certain age)

The death of Sir David Frost filled me with sadness over the weekend, because he was one of the main reasons I entered journalism. Many years later, as a Producer on BBC Breakfast News, I had the opportunity to meet him, when the programme Breakfast with Frost was launched in 1993. I worked as a Producer on that programme for a short while and can personally testify he was a charming man.By then, his whole interviewing style had changed, and many of us in the newsroom viewed him as a soft touch, which was why so many politicians fell over themselves to be interviewed by him on the famous sofa.But experience had taught him that you did not have to be Jeremy Paxman or John Humphrys, to get the truth out of politicians and world leaders – to dig out “the story”. There are many different ways to skin a cat and while it was probably Frost and the late Sir Robin Day who practically invented broadcast political interviewing, Frost’s style softened over the years, just as his career crossed so many boundaries – from satire, to news, to political interviewing, to just about everything including “Through the Keyhole”.I personally learned a lot from Frost over my ten year BBC career, where early on, I was a political reporter for BBC Radio, interviewing many big names of the time including Mrs Thatcher and most of her Cabinet. What I learned from Frost was that it was the quality of the question that counted, not necessarily the level of aggression in your voice or manner.Many years later, working as a Producer on Breakfast with Frost, I noticed that he worked incredibly hard to make important interviews seem natural and effortless.If it wasn’t for Sir David Frost, I might never have become a journalist and later on shared my knowledge and experience with all of Media Friendly’s clients to help them get their stories and messages out effectively.I certainly have a lot to thank him for.Andrew Carapiet was a former BBC Television Producer for National News programmes broadcast by the BBC and founded Media Friendly as a Communications and Media Training organisation with Moya Fillmore in 1998.