Bringing interviews to life
ID:114577
Date: May 10, 2021
Larry King
Bio: Larry King born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger was an american television and radio host. Born in Brooklyn,New York on November 19,1933. King’s Father died at an early age resulting in his mother and brother going on governmental assistance and him losing interest in his schoolwork.
His first start in radio in Miami his first broadcast being on may 1,1957 where he used the name
larry king as the general manager of the station claimed his real name is hard to remember.
Starting from January 30,1978 King started broadcasting a talk show,The Larry King show with
live callers and celebrity interviews and in 1985 he hosted Larry King Live on CNN the finally
stepping down from the show after 25 years in 2010.King underwent various operations in his
life having a major heart attack in 1987, on january 2021 he has been hospitalised for testing
positive for Covid-19 with him dying due to sepsis as a complication on January 23 2021.
Interview style:
● Larry king likes to use more casual “street question” style questions in his interviews,
King asks questions such as “What happened?” and asking questions from a layman’s
perspective.
● Larry King's interviews feel more like a conversation rather than an interview; they have
a natural flow to them,his interviews are live and not taped and edited.
● King doesn’t bother admitting his ignorance about subjects that the guest talks about; he
doesn’t over prepare and is willing to listen to the answers and learn.
● Larry King gave control to his guests and the interviews felt more “safe” for the guests with no difficult questions.
Barbara Walters
Bio: Barbara Jill Walters born in Boston,Massachusetts on September 25,1929 in an American broadcast journalist,author and television personality known for hosting The view,20/20 and ABC Evening News. Walters started her career as a publicist and then joined The today show as a writer then hosting lighter topics and the weather for the show, later co-hosting the show in 1974. She was teamed to host ABC Evening News from 1976 to 1978.In 1997 Walters co-created and co-host the show The View. She would retire from hosting and interviewing in May 2014.
Interview style:
● Barbara Walters has a more serious well prepared interview style with questions that are
prepared in advance and are a more heavy type of question rather than simple questions.
● Barbara would ask questions about the guest’s past, their childhood and their relationships to get an understanding of who they are and what experiences shaped them.
● Walters asks unorthodox questions and very blunt questions. She also asks very
provocative questions such as “what philosophy do you live by?”
● Walters takes control of the interview and likes to be prepared for the topics in the interviews asking hard hitting questions.
Comparing the two styles
● Barbara Walters and Larry King have opposing ways of interviewing where Larry King’s
is more relaxed,comfortable and safe, Barbara Walters has a prepared heavy interview with a more serious interview tone.
● Larry King’s interviews feel more like a conversation with the guest whereas Walter’s interviews are more confrontational.
● King gives more control to the guest where they have a safer environment but Walter’s interviews are more controlled by her with her steering the direction the interview is heading.
● The questions on King’s interviews are more simple and unprepared, Walter’s questions are more prepared and complex with more knowledge behind them.