Discussion of Staging

After reading Dave Wertheimer’s piece on staging, I thought of an experience I had this summer while volunteering at the Olympics. I was standing beside my friend Shao Li, a fellow volunteer from Southern China. We stood in the NIS, waiting for a gymnastics competition to begin. The stands weren’t filled yet and no competitors were on the floor – only us volunteers. A European photographer walked up to my friend and I and asked us to stand under an entry way decorated with the five Olympic rings. Shao Li is a fellow journalism student and he’s fluent in English. We both hesitated and looked at each other. Then the photojournalist pointed to Shao Li and said, “You look more Chinese, how about if you stand right over there?” We both hesitated again and the photographer could tell that we knew something was very wrong with this. He shrugged and said something to the effect of “Oh, never mind then” and walked away.

This experience gave me insight as to why journalists would feel compelled to stage, whether it be with video, photos or audio. I think it’s all related to the pressure the journalist feels within the time frame and circumstance their in. It’s nice to say that the best journalists can be creative no matter what the situation or timing is and that’s true, but it’s also true that we all lose the ability to see and to use our creativity when we’re feeling so pressured. Still, there is no excuse and as journalists we should learn how to deal with such situations where we might feel pressured. We should get used to talking about how we can use situations that aren't obvious in order to produce great work.