"You interrupt every sentence," complained David Cameron as he came face-to-face with Today's arch interrogator, John Humphrys last week. "You'll interrupt yourself in a minute." The Tory leader wasn't the only one moaning. Around 200 people complained that Humphrys had interrupted too much.
Just yesterday a rather less high-profile interview, Nicky Campbell's grilling of a tour operator on Watchdog, was censured by Ofcom after he interrupted his guest 10 times in three minutes.
That's one interruption every 18 seconds. What number, I wonder, would regulators and viewers find appropriate? Every 30 seconds? 45? Or one a minute? Perhaps they could install a light in the Watchdog office, which will flash when Campbell has reached his limit, and the guest can speak unhindered for the rest of the interview.
But the spotlight remains on Today. Accused in some quarters of a lack of teeth since Hutton, it will soon have a new editor and, presumably, some new presenters. Jon Snow complained last year that interviewers had become too cynical. Which way do you want it to go?
