Tom Gordon
HE usually does it across a desk or staring into a camera, but now Alex Salmond has revealed he also fancies doing it standing up.
The former First Minister has said he likes the idea of conducting interviews vertically, in the style of the Danish TV drama Borgen.
A key part of the show, which followed the rise and fall of a female Prime Minister and is a favourite of Nicola Sturgeon, was a fictional TV station on which interviewees were quizzed standing round an elevated table.
Salmond said: "I thought that wouldn't be a bad format to try it in a news programme, you know, the standing up. We don't normally do that. I actually thought that's not a bad format."
Salmond revealed his preference for the Copenhagen position in a controversial interview with GQ magazine, a full transcript of which has now been released by the Scottish Government.
Asked if he liked the programme, the then First Minister said he thought it had "lost impetus" once the main character was no longer Prime Minister, but he did enjoy "the stand-up" part.
One of the other TV formats used in Borgen - an election debate in which multiple party leaders stood in a row - later featured in the UK general election.
Elsewhere in the interview, conducted last year by Tony Blair's former spindoctor Alastair Campbell, Salmond revealed his personal dislike for the editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre.
Asked about Dacre, Salmond joked: "A close personal associate of mine."
Campbell said: "You don't like Dacre; please tell me you don't like Dacre."
Salmond replied: "I don't like him, no."
Salmond made no secret of his distaste for the fiercely pro-Union Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph during the referendum campaign, and reporters from the papers were excluded from his resignation press conference after the No vote.
However Salmond was much warmer in the interview about the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, whose Scottish Sun newspaper endorsed the SNP in the general election.
"I think he is a remarkable guy," Salmond said.
When it was published last year, the interview proved hugely controversial, as Salmond said he admired "certain aspects" of Vladimir Putin's leadership despite the President Russian President moving troops against Ukraine to annexe the Crimea.
Salmond said: "Well, obviously, I don't approve of a range of Russian actions, but I think Putin's more effective than the press he gets. You can see why he carries support in Russia.
Asked, "Do you admire him?" Salmond replied: "I admire certain aspects. I mean, he has restored a substantial part of Russian pride and must be a good thing."
Criticised for the remarks, Salmond later told the Scottish Parliament: "I had in mind the restoration of Russian pride, given that I was speaking in the aftermath of the Sochi Olympics."
The full transcript makes no reference to the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The script was released after a freedom of information ruling in favour of the Sunday Herald.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article