I had an interesting day of learning yesterday. I got a phone call from a local news station
asking for an interview. At first I
thought, “They’ve finally discovered me!” Then I thought that’s crazy, I haven’t
done anything worthy of discovery. The
reporter asked if she could interview me as a member of the Granite Community
Council regarding a fire in the area.
Apparently there was some controversy about the fire as the owner of the
property was storing some hazardous materials.
My judgment told me to run, but something also made me feel a sense of
concern for the property owner.
I’ve met
him twice, both times while I was walking past his land on my way to my daily
hike. The first time he cornered me long
enough for me to get a sunburn and a tweaked lower back. He was out moving rocks away from the
shoulder of the road and not to be judgmental, but he was too old to be doing that. I helped him move the rocks and while I was
moving the last one I asked, “who put these rocks here?” He replied, “I did!”
Of course I asked why we were then moving them back. He told me a story of how he’d been in a battle
with hikers who park their cars over his property line before they go on their
hike. He told me further how he’d
suddenly had a change of heart and wanted to allow people to park there if they
wanted to. He went on to tell me about
his life, a touching story about how he’d met his wife and lots of other tales.
The second time I met him was on the morning of the
fire. I had found out two days earlier
quite by accident that that day, the day of the fire, was also his
birthday. When I asked him about it, he
told me that he’d thought no one would remember,
but he told me how some people from the neighborhood brought him a gift and how
his family had presented him with portraits of all of his grandchildren.
With all this in mind and the thought that no one should be dragged through the mud on their birthday, I agreed to the interview - not as a member of the community council, just as a person in the neighborhood. I had a feeling people may be piling
on about the fire, the junk-yard-like condition of his property and the
reported hazardous waste. I was nervous to be interviewed because of what it might look like when it was edited into whatever the story might be. You see, I’ve seen too many stories that I know were taken out of
context with sound bites manipulated. While I waited for the news crew to arrive I became more and more uneasy. Something was telling me not to do it. Within a few minutes the truck rolled up to
the house, they gave me a mark to stand on with a good background and they
started the small talk while they mic’d me up.
Before I knew it the camera was rolling and the reporter and cameraman were
speaking in lingo and asking each other questions. It was fascinating how fast they put
everything together, kept me talking about things that would put me at ease and
get me talking. I was on camera
recording before I even knew what was happening. The reporter asked me to state my name and
then spell it on camera and now it all felt very official. The questions were expertly asked and at
times, I felt they were designed to corner me into saying things that might make the story more interesting, but that I might regret later. I found it difficult to keep my composure and
try and answer the questions because I felt the need to think through each
response. The final question, though I
said I was speaking as a neighbor was, “And are you a member of the Granite
Community Council?” Then as fast as it
started it was over. It was maybe 5
minutes all together.
I worried all day that I shouldn’t have done it, that they
would chop up and put back together things I said to make the story more
sensational. As I mulled it over, I
decided that whatever was to come of it, was as it should be and so I tried to
dismiss my concern. I picked up an email
from another member of the council with the subject line: Confession Time. He told about how he had been interviewed on
camera by the same team earlier in the day, how he tried to take the roll of
neighbor too, but that he was concerned.
Interestingly, he’s a former TV news person, and he was worried about
the same things. I replied with my own
confession and we were both convinced that our statements were so boring that
no one would want to use them.
In the end, they used us both, but they did keep their word
and represented us only as neighbors and the sound bites used were only
inserted to emphasize what we had both told them, so I give the news team
credit for their integrity.
My lesson was that even though I followed what my belief was telling me to do, I worried about it after the fact and all day long. Even if the worst were
to have happened, I know what I believe and my actions reflected it. The unfortunate part was that my pessimism
about the process made me expect the worst.
Too bad. It kind of ruined my
day. I should never have let that
happen. If I got a do-over, I’d do the
same but leave out the day of worry.
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