Good and bad days
On Friday I wrote my blog about how safe the city is or isn’t, but more importantly how easy it was to do the story. A new angle fell right in my lap and the people I spoke with were very opinionated, allowing the great clips to tell the story.
I love those days when I feel I don’t even have to work, but reporting isn’t always a walk in the park … or the city centre for that matter.
Today I faced the disgusting reality that it is not always easy to get people to talk with you. During the morning show I went to three different locations just to develop my story. Normally (if you are familiar with the format) I only go to one location and report from that spot. But I was having serious issues with a lack of people in the area … let alone people who would talk to me.
My first destination was a gas station on MacLeod Trail. Generally in the early morning there are always a few people who provide me with tape while we chat when they are fuelling up. But of course, with my luck, the place was deserted.
No one to talk about their boss and how funny or unfunny he or she is. It’s a topic I was expecting some good tape from. But the couple of souls hanging around were people who didn’t want to talk to me … and unfortunately two guys who were really nice but couldn’t speak English.
If my destination doesn’t work, or look like it will work in the next half hour, I get out of there as soon as possible and head to a better spot. So off I went.
When I arrived at my new spot, outside a convenience store on 4th St. in Mission, it was not much better. Again barely anyone was showing up and the few who did were not exactly thrilled that I wanted to take two minutes out of their day. I did get one man who was happy enough to give me a few words before screeching off to work.
So on to my 3rd “hot spot.”
It was another gas station for the 6:30 a.m. broadcast and this time I did a little better. There was a bus stop in front which saved my story. I was able to just scrape together enough reaction to get by the 6:30 a.m., 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. live hits. Things felt like they were back to normal when I spoke with two women who were bubbly and actually had good tales to tell about their bosses. They helped make a really funny story to tell for the 8:00 a.m. cast.
There is nothing more stressful than having to go live in five minutes and having practically no tape to play. It puts even more white hairs on my salt and pepper head and gives me that bad tingly feeling in my chest.
It wasn’t an easy shift but every now and then I have to deal with days like this. As a journalist I have to suck it up and give it my all and do the best with what I get.
Thankfully I survived and will live to report another day.