When I was covering a women's lacrosse game everyone I interacted with was an ass to me. They all acted like they were upset I was there and I felt repulsed to be having to interview and rely on them.
The team I was covering had just lost the game and it was a close match, but damn don't take it all out on me. And even questions I was asking meaning to be impartial and matter-of-factly they bit my goddamn head off for. "Well I think we played great and it wasn't a real loss!"
It was real loss! The scoreboard says so! Don't take your anger out on me.
But, this experience has given me a valuable lesson: timing is everything. Interviewing someone at a certain time can have their emotions running in completely different directions than at another time. Sometimes that can be good to cover. Other times people can be dicks to you for no reason.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Is it lying if I don't mention it?
Honestly is it? I'm not saying it's moral, but if you want to gloss over some details or just altogether not mention something is it lying in a news story? Like doing a profile on someone for example. If part of a politician's platform is family values but he's having an affair with his secretary is it better to just ignore that bit and talk about his platform or break the story about the affair. If you don't break the story you will probably get to continue following him around for the remainder of the candidacy, but, then again, if you break it the candidacy might end right there and you get really noticed. But, according to Hunter S. Thompson something like that can completely alienate you on capital hill for future races as people are afraid you can't be trusted.
What about manipulating quotes? I'm not saying chop up sentences and suddenly someone went from peace advocate to warmonger. I mean can I take one sentence and put another sentence that relates to the same context but was said later on in an interview right next to it? I suppose that can be a pretty broad topic though as it can easily get out of hand and end up being the peace to war example.
What about manipulating quotes? I'm not saying chop up sentences and suddenly someone went from peace advocate to warmonger. I mean can I take one sentence and put another sentence that relates to the same context but was said later on in an interview right next to it? I suppose that can be a pretty broad topic though as it can easily get out of hand and end up being the peace to war example.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Jaws activity 2
Two local kids have been killed while swimming in Amity within hours of each other by possible shark attacks.
The second attack was against 10-year-old Alex Kintner of Mayfair Court who was floating on a raft while his swimming in the ocean. The raft has since been recovered with what appears to be a large bite out of it, but no body has been found.
Kintner's mother, Marion Kintner, who was present on the beach at the time of the attack, is being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital.
Police believe a possible link between the two and possible shark activities in the vicinity of Amity.
The investigations are still ongoing.
The first victim was 17-year-old Chrissie Watson, whose mauled body washed ashore this morning. She was last seen alive leaving a beach party with another teen the night before around 11 p.m.
The other teen, Trinity College sophomore and former resident, Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, told police that Watson decided to go swimming after heavily drinking and possibly smoking marijuana. Hoggenbottam notified police this morning that Watson did not return from the swim.
Watson was a local senior at Amity High School. She was a member of the varsity swim team at Amity High School and lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs.
Her body was then discovered by Police Deputy Jay Hendricks this morning washed up on the beach. Her body has been transported to the coroner's office for an autopsy. No charges have been filed so far.
The second attack was against 10-year-old Alex Kintner of Mayfair Court who was floating on a raft while his swimming in the ocean. The raft has since been recovered with what appears to be a large bite out of it, but no body has been found.
Kintner's mother, Marion Kintner, who was present on the beach at the time of the attack, is being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital.
Police believe a possible link between the two and possible shark activities in the vicinity of Amity.
The investigations are still ongoing.
Is it worth it?
I'm going to use the National Enquirer as an example. They print pure lies and a bunch of bullshit. But, it's interesting and gets people to read it.
The thing is though, is it worth being sued over for some of the stuff they print?
Yeah, probably actually. The amount of money they make off of one issue vastly outweighs the amount it would cost in a settlement fund or in a retraction.
"Tom Cruise says he wants 'alien babies'"
"Tom Hanks kills a party-goer"
"Oprah turns down Dr. Phil's marriage proposal"
Those are all made up but good examples of what goes into an average issue of the National Enquirer. They would probably have to pay a couple thousand dollars per each story that gets them sued. So, if all three of those stories get them sued that would be about six to eight thousand dollars. But, how much do they make off of each issue? Probably about 25 thousand dollars.
And, that's assuming the people actually sue for a retraction. If no one sues over it or just ignores it then they don't lose any money at all.
So, yeah from a monetary standpoint it's worth it.
But, from a pride standpoint and being able to hang your hat on something saying "I did this", I think not.
Jaws activity
Possible shark attack kills local teen Sunday evening off the shores of South Beach Shoal.
The mauled body of 17-year-old Chrissie Watson washed ashore this morning. She was last seen alive leaving a beach party with another teen the night before around 11 p.m.
The other teen, Trinity College sophomore and former resident, Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, told police that Watson decided to go swimming after heavily drinking and possibly smoking marijuana. Hoggenbottam notified police this morning that Watson did not return from the swim.
Watson was a local senior at Amity High School. She was a member of the varsity swim team at Amity High School and lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs.
Her body was then discovered by Police Deputy Jay Hendricks this morning washed up on the beach.
Her body has been transported to the coroner's office for an autopsy. No charges have been filed so far, and police are continuing the investigation.
Monday, April 22, 2013
I have a theory
Should we post our theories?
I noticed in the beginning of the Boston bombings everyone was afraid to say "terrorist" or anything related to it. Everyone was trying to insinuate it without actually saying it. I think I heard multiple times someone say "I'm not saying terrorism but this is what it looks like."
So if we have a theory about what happened does that mean we should tell people? I mean if we're right yay us. But, what if we're wrong?
Should we just sit around saying, "well shit happens"? Or do we need to make up a theory as to why this happened.
With breaking news this isn't important, people just want to know what is happening. But, after something has broken and it's simmered for a bit, people want to know why it happened.
Going back to Boston, at first it was all about developing news, what happened, how many people were hurt, lets hear some stories, and here is what the police say. But, the next day it was all about why did this happen. And, that is when everyone tried saying terrorism without saying it. Which I don't understand why they even tried to hide that they thought it was terrorism anyways.
I noticed in the beginning of the Boston bombings everyone was afraid to say "terrorist" or anything related to it. Everyone was trying to insinuate it without actually saying it. I think I heard multiple times someone say "I'm not saying terrorism but this is what it looks like."
So if we have a theory about what happened does that mean we should tell people? I mean if we're right yay us. But, what if we're wrong?
Should we just sit around saying, "well shit happens"? Or do we need to make up a theory as to why this happened.
With breaking news this isn't important, people just want to know what is happening. But, after something has broken and it's simmered for a bit, people want to know why it happened.
Going back to Boston, at first it was all about developing news, what happened, how many people were hurt, lets hear some stories, and here is what the police say. But, the next day it was all about why did this happen. And, that is when everyone tried saying terrorism without saying it. Which I don't understand why they even tried to hide that they thought it was terrorism anyways.
Does it matter if they finish the story?
Honestly does it?
They've already started reading it, that means they have probably already purchased it or somehow paid for it. So, why does it matter if they reach the end of the story?
Most stories endings suck anyways. Every story these days has a more and more vague ending with less information and less interesting points.
Every story I've read recently on North Korea ends the same way, it just sums up what has already happened in every other news story I've read. I've read that North Korea did a nuclear test in February about 15 times already, but only once was that the main focus of the article.
So does it really matter? Should journalists focus on the ending all that much? Or can we just sort of let the ending slip?
They've already started reading it, that means they have probably already purchased it or somehow paid for it. So, why does it matter if they reach the end of the story?
Most stories endings suck anyways. Every story these days has a more and more vague ending with less information and less interesting points.
Every story I've read recently on North Korea ends the same way, it just sums up what has already happened in every other news story I've read. I've read that North Korea did a nuclear test in February about 15 times already, but only once was that the main focus of the article.
So does it really matter? Should journalists focus on the ending all that much? Or can we just sort of let the ending slip?
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