Yesterday I interviewed a man attending an event I had to cover for work. When I'm at events, I'm pretty super-pleasant to deal with. You sort of need to be in this line of work - at least, it gets you better interviews when you are. Who wants to talk to a rude, grumpy reporter?
Which kind of brings me to my point. I'm not being rude, so how about the people I interview not be rude, either?
So, I talk to this guy - he's a senior citizen, real nice, a bit hard of hearing - and then I ask if I can take his photo with his friends. This really pleases him, so he and his friends get together and I snap a couple shots. Then I say that I'm with my newspaper, and they say that's great, they will pick up copies this week.
I walk away (about 10 feet?) to get my bag and belongings together, and I hear the guy loudly proclaim, "I wish it was (the other local weekly newspaper), because that one is free!"
Now, come on. I'm standing right there - couldn't he have at least waited until I was out of the room? Plus the fact that my newspaper costs 50 cents. I know the economy is rough right now, but why not splurge a little if you're going to get your picture in the paper and have some fleeting fame?
Things like this happen more often than I'd like to admit, and it's just as disheartening every time. So, if you ever need to deal with a newspaper, for whatever reason - you're interviewed, you need to place an ad, you want to run a birth announcement - be courteous and act like you care about the publication.
If you care about me, I'll care about you. It's that simple.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I care about you!!
Maybe he's following the television school of thought to having a conversation. I always see them on a TV show walking over a few feet to discuss something, when clearly in real life, the other person could hear them. That's unfortunate that he acted that way, but it sounds like you are doing a great job nonetheless.
Post a Comment