Sunday, March 07, 2004
at
9:50 p.m.
|
Otherwise known as a 'streeter' this is a horrid task that editors like to give to young rookies. It involves going out and asking the general public for their thoughts on a current event. That part isn't too tough, the trick, however, is getting them to agree to a headshot.
The reasons editors send rookies for these are twofold: one, they don't have to waste a 'real' reporter who can be busy reporting 'news' and the other is because they want you, like everyone before you, to pay your dues.
I can live with that.
But, still, for those of you who have yet to try to do one of these, especially in a crowded place like the Eaton Center in Toronto, here is a small accounting of what I went through and a few strategies to deal with the task.
My first streeter was to ask people "have you lost faith in Prime Minister Paul Martin after the recent sponsorship scandal." Now, this isn't such a bad question but the problem is that politics, like religion, gets people's backs up. I don't know why, it just does.
Common responses included a simple "no" to "let me see some I.D." with the occasional "bastard" and the most popular response of all: "I'm not from this country."
Now the problem that I had was that I didn't really know where to begin. I figured targeting lone individuals was probably a better shot at getting what I needed so I went up to people with nothing to do and were clearly waiting for someone else or just passing the time.
This is not necessarily the right way to do this.
I met with limited success. My task was to come back with six to 10 photos and while that may not seem like a lot it is a VERY tough thing to do, especially if you don't have experience or a knack for this sort of thing. It took me four hours to get SIX photos and towards the end I pretty much had to beg.
The odd part of this is that on subsequent jobs that I've been sent out on I've never really had much trouble getting people to talk. One assignment included talking to people about the fence at Withrow Park (where the dogs had been poisoned by tainted weiners) and another was about the February thaw. Both times were no problem and getting pictures were as easy as possible. I'll admit that on the second one I had help, but still, I couldn't figure out where the difference was coming from.
The most obvious answer would be that the question and the environment were better suited to talk to the people I most needed to talk to. They were out, they were present, and more importantly they were directly affected by the environment around them. What do most people know about politics?
What a bitch of an assignment.
Today I did another streeter. This one about a possible law in Ontario that would allow patrons to bring their own bottles of wine to a restaurant. I planted myself outside Mr. Greenjeans in the Eaton Center to get the 50, yes 50, replies that my editor asked for.
I was done in about 45 minutes.
The reasons for this are, once again, twofold: one, I had a much easier question and a location where people were once again directly affected. I only talked to people coming out of the restaurant (in less of a hurry and with full bellies) and this time groups weren't out of the question. Actually, when in groups people tend to goad each other on into letting me take their pictures.
The other was that I brought a press pass that was made at Humber where I study journalism. Granted it says Humber and not Toronto Sun, but at least it identifies me immediately as press and gets people interested. Most of them looked at the badge before they looked at me and all but one couple stopped for the less than two minutes I needed.
The moral of the story is that if you look the part, act the part, and don't have to deal in politics... you're set.
But hope to never have to do a streeter.
And Catherine wants me to mention her monkey slippers. They're quite cute.
The reasons editors send rookies for these are twofold: one, they don't have to waste a 'real' reporter who can be busy reporting 'news' and the other is because they want you, like everyone before you, to pay your dues.
I can live with that.
But, still, for those of you who have yet to try to do one of these, especially in a crowded place like the Eaton Center in Toronto, here is a small accounting of what I went through and a few strategies to deal with the task.
My first streeter was to ask people "have you lost faith in Prime Minister Paul Martin after the recent sponsorship scandal." Now, this isn't such a bad question but the problem is that politics, like religion, gets people's backs up. I don't know why, it just does.
Common responses included a simple "no" to "let me see some I.D." with the occasional "bastard" and the most popular response of all: "I'm not from this country."
Now the problem that I had was that I didn't really know where to begin. I figured targeting lone individuals was probably a better shot at getting what I needed so I went up to people with nothing to do and were clearly waiting for someone else or just passing the time.
This is not necessarily the right way to do this.
I met with limited success. My task was to come back with six to 10 photos and while that may not seem like a lot it is a VERY tough thing to do, especially if you don't have experience or a knack for this sort of thing. It took me four hours to get SIX photos and towards the end I pretty much had to beg.
The odd part of this is that on subsequent jobs that I've been sent out on I've never really had much trouble getting people to talk. One assignment included talking to people about the fence at Withrow Park (where the dogs had been poisoned by tainted weiners) and another was about the February thaw. Both times were no problem and getting pictures were as easy as possible. I'll admit that on the second one I had help, but still, I couldn't figure out where the difference was coming from.
The most obvious answer would be that the question and the environment were better suited to talk to the people I most needed to talk to. They were out, they were present, and more importantly they were directly affected by the environment around them. What do most people know about politics?
What a bitch of an assignment.
Today I did another streeter. This one about a possible law in Ontario that would allow patrons to bring their own bottles of wine to a restaurant. I planted myself outside Mr. Greenjeans in the Eaton Center to get the 50, yes 50, replies that my editor asked for.
I was done in about 45 minutes.
The reasons for this are, once again, twofold: one, I had a much easier question and a location where people were once again directly affected. I only talked to people coming out of the restaurant (in less of a hurry and with full bellies) and this time groups weren't out of the question. Actually, when in groups people tend to goad each other on into letting me take their pictures.
The other was that I brought a press pass that was made at Humber where I study journalism. Granted it says Humber and not Toronto Sun, but at least it identifies me immediately as press and gets people interested. Most of them looked at the badge before they looked at me and all but one couple stopped for the less than two minutes I needed.
The moral of the story is that if you look the part, act the part, and don't have to deal in politics... you're set.
But hope to never have to do a streeter.
And Catherine wants me to mention her monkey slippers. They're quite cute.
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