News

Jian Ghomeshi is king of the "uhm" while being interviewed

by Charlie Smith on November 3rd, 2014 at 2:08 PM
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      The Toronto Police Service probe into fired CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi offers plenty of avenues of exploration.

      That's in addition to interviewing women who come forward with allegations of abuse.

      These days, investigators can look into a person's speech patterns and past written statements and emails to draw conclusions about their personality.

      It's not beyond the realm of possibility that police will be scouring through Ghomeshi's book, 1982, looking for clues, as well as reviewing tapes of him hosting Q on CBC Radio.

      That's because analysis of language has become a new crime-fighting tool.

      I was curious to know how Ghomeshi conducted himself when he's answering rather than asking questions.

      In that spirit, I examined this George Stroumboulopoulos interview (see above) with Ghomeshi, which was taped in 2012 after the release of his book.

      I was surprised to see how often Ghomeshi used "uhm" in his responses, given that he's a professional broadcaster.

      The "uhm" word is littered throughout the interview. To me, it suggests he's pausing to think about everything that he's about to say rather than responding to questions spontaneously.

      It may not be germane to Toronto police, but if Ghomeshi uses "uhm" as often during any interrogation, it likely won't go unnoticed.

      Comments

      20 Comments

      Cathy

      Nov 3, 2014 at 3:17pm

      I think it's pretty common to say uhm when being interviewed. When you don't know the questions that are going to be asked, it's natural to pause and reflect...Uhm is a space filler. Not defending Gomeshi but your argument is really weak.

      Michael Erard

      Nov 3, 2014 at 3:54pm

      It's what people do in certain circumstances compared to a baseline which matters, not an absolute disfluency level, whether it's psychopaths or Ghomeshi. So he said "um" a lot in an interview. Big deal. Read my book, Um?..: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, if you really want to understand the meaning of disfluency. They are better indicators of states, not traits.

      MarkFornataro

      Nov 3, 2014 at 4:16pm

      Re: "as well as reviewing tapes of him hosting Q on CBC Radio" there of course was, according to Billy Bob Thornton, an agreement that Ghomeshi not talk about Thornton's film career and instaed focus on his music during a Q interview. Ghomeshi ignored this agreement and Billy Bob Thornton subsequent called Ghomeshi an asshole for whioh Thornton was booed at a Toronto concert. I thought after that Ghomeshi would be more careful in such situations but it looks like he subsequently came close to doing the same thing in a weasally way with Barbara Streisand during a Q interview- according to Toronto Star Kevin Donovan:
      http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/11/02/jian_ghomeshis_unplanned_dinn...
      This might raise questions of character and believability for police I would think.

      True Fict

      Nov 3, 2014 at 7:02pm

      I don't think the amount of times he says um during an interview can be taken as a measure of his personal integrity...that seems a bit far-fetched.
      However, I recently had the opportunity to re-watch the Thornton interview and one thing really stood out for me. Ghomeshi NEVER APOLOGIZED. Ghomeshi was praised for his deft interview skills, and his ability to think on his feet and "save the interview". Yes, he managed to get Thornton to speak eventually and the band played a song afterward instead of walking out of the studio, but they were visibly pissed and it showed in their reticence. I wouldn't necessarily call that a good save. Once Thornton called him out for crossing the explicit boundaries stated in the producer notes, Ghomeshi simply said he only mentioned Thorntons other professional accomplishments as "providing context" and then arrogantly said, fine I'm happy to talk with you about music. He then proceeded to only address Thornton for the rest of the interview, failing to realize that is EXACTLY WHY Thornton didn't want his acting career to be mentioned in the first place!
      It's very common for narcissistic, egomaniacs to think they are never wrong, never examine their own behaviour, think everyone else is just overreacting, and therefore, NEVER offer apologies.

      The police

      Nov 3, 2014 at 9:04pm

      will be looking to see if there are grounds for laying charges. It is indeed entirely beyond the realm of possibility they will be drawing their conclusions on the basis of how many times Ghomeshi said "um" in an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos. I don't look to the Straight for award-winning journalism, but this article is simply ridiculous.

      Thomas Folkestone

      Nov 3, 2014 at 11:48pm

      Um, reminds me of the Starkist Tuna commercial.

      Sorry, Charlie... bit of a reach here. You're usually razor sharp but I learned that saying um was a space filler when you really didn't know the answer, and to do so was poor public speaking practice. Sure, the interviewee is trying to formulate his answer. But that's about as far as the conclusions can go from such a thin analysis.

      James Kalioupoulos

      Nov 4, 2014 at 6:51am

      Charlie, can we get you to work up something 'neurosciency' on his body language in those old Moxy Fruvous videos, or maybe toss in some ad libs about behavioural economics while you opine about his choice of clothing? It's not 'far fetched' to offer some insights on how those reveal his inner self.
      I mean, he's never really denied molesting baby seals off the coast of Newfoundland, has he?

      Dukerbud

      Nov 4, 2014 at 8:30am

      Ok, are you that desperate to get anything on this guy that you are resorting to this??? C'mon Charlie that's incredibly nitpicking at it's finest. Surely you can do better than that.

      MKU

      Nov 4, 2014 at 8:58am

      If you want an interview that's actually telling of his personality, look for his interview with Moxy Fruvous on Open Mike with Mike Bullard on YouTube. . He comes off as a real primadonna and all around dickhead