As a broadcast journalist there are times when I am covering a story and nothing seems to go the way I would like it to. First people won't hold still if I want to get a shot of them, or a particular person I want to interview won't say anything that I can use as a soundbite. When this situation occurs it can be tempting to try and stage a scenario in order to get my story done, but it is unethical. Even though it may not be obvious to someone that watches the story, I will always know I cheated myself and the story. I have found that most of the time the best sound bites are spontaneous and come naturally from the speaker, rather than a coached response.
Staging also occurs in radio and print stories as well, but is harder to notice. While it is most obvious when a shot or an interview has been staged in television reporting, staging in general is unethical and ironically produces worse stories than spontaneous one's.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment