Media: The People Behind the Scoop

Did you ever notice that there is never a rest from endless pontificating bya nonstop parade of sports stars who are put on the radio or TV without a thing to say?

Sometimes I think the dumbing down of North America is due to our penchant for listening breathlessly for a play-by-play analysis of every move, lap, hit, finish, shot, dive, dunk, pass and tackle. Forecasting. Analyzing.Reviewing. And then, there is movie-making after the fact, like DaleEarnhardt Jr. speculating after his July Daytona victory that there would bemultiple movie offers for the tragic and triumphant story of the Earnhardts.

If you've ever been interviewed for TV or radio, you know how a reporter maytape many minutes or hours worth of conversation, and then maybe fiveseconds of that conversation shows up on the air. One man was a technicianfor a local TV news program. He said he got tired of spending many hourssetting up lights, sound and props for a reporter to drive up, do a quickinterview, and then the technician would have to tear everything down, putit back in the vehicle, and go to the next taping. Hours of work and effortfor maybe a minute of material on the air. Eventually he quit his job forone that seemed more ultimately rewarding (Purpose, Sept. 2, 2001).

That is the nature of media. And whose fault is it? It is ourown fault. Asviewers, we get bored and turn the channel if a segment goes on too longwith details we think we don't need, or doesn't have any "pictures" or videoto go with it. And so the media rely on hot stories, catchy phrases and goodvisuals.

This pressure, unfortunately, inspires "duh" kinds of questions and answersby reporters and interviewees. I was reminded of this after Earnhardt Jr.'sdramatic and hard-earned victory at Daytona. I did not see the race nor aninterview in which a reporter supposedly asked him if he cried when he won.

"No, actually, I was pretty happy," Earnhardt was reported to havesaid. The people telling me this story thought it was emblematic of the dumbquestions reporters ask on occasions like this or worse-shoving a microphoneinto the face of a someone who has just lost their child or home and asking,"How do you feel?"

Cheryl Preheim, one of the reporters for KUSA TV in Denver,Colorado, covered the Columbine shootings for KUSA TV in 1999. At a mediaconference earlier this year, she told how incredibly difficult it was to bea reporter at that terrible time. Not only was she working endless hours andthen sleeping in her car, but people screamed obscenities at the media,telling them to go home, get out. She said she wanted to tell people, " 'Ifit weren't for my job, I wouldn't be here.' I wanted to say, 'I'm bawlingin my car after my TV report is over. I'm not as callous as you think.' "She knew she was hated, and she hated that feeling.

Overall, she said the stations and media tried to be asinconspicuous as possible, with all of the stations cooperating with a mediapool, so there would be fewer cameras, etc. "Our station took the stancethat you're a part of your community first-and then you're a professional."When there was a family of a victim that she was supposed to call andrequest an interview, she took the unusual stance of calling the family, andjust leaving a message that said something like, "I can't blame you if youdon't want to talk to me, but if you would like to tell you story, give me acall." Families did return her calls and she was able to share their storiesof loss and memories of their loved ones; she said she became very goodfriends to a number of families of the victims.

And that is the important thing to remember no matter what your job:never forget that people are people-- whether they are reporters trying to dotheir jobs, or families who have just been ripped apart. Remember that yourboss has her own insecurities, family problems, hopes and dreams. The sportsstar-as he rambles on in no-brainers like "we came out, did what we had todo, gave it 100 percent" is a person saying the things he's expected to say,too. And that the reporter who has just asked a really hard question, maygo to her car and cry.

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org