Posts Tagged ‘reporting’

How does Stacy McCain get stories…

Posted: September 15, 2010 by datechguy in media, opinion/news
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such as this:

Christine O’Donnell is standing 20 feet away from me in the lobby of the Fairfield Inn. She says, “I just got off the phone with Senator Cornyn. He said he’s going to give us full support and is going to do media interviews clearing the air.”

He does it because he IS THERE, covering one campaign, getting as close as he can to a campaign and treating people with respect.

There is no substitute for being willing to chase a story like a proper reporter. That is Stacy McCain all over.

There is lot more to journalism than smiling in front of a camera

Posted: September 12, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media, personal, special events
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A few months ago I was driving home with the wife and son when I noticed a TV camera crew across the street from the Hospital.

My wife saw the look in my eye and insisted that I head home (we were less than 10 min away) I did that, grabbed my camera and a pad and ran off to see what was going on.

There had been an accident earlier in the day where a teen had hit a young kid, who was hospitalized. There was going to be a live shot so the young lady and her crew was setup in the parking lot across the street to shoot the segments for her report and some teases:

There was an awful lot of waiting around and trying to tweak presentations. It’s wasn’t a pleasant spot to be, the lights attracted the bugs but the shots needed to be made.

I talked to the crew guys, the discused going around in the truck, having to drop things on a moment’s notice to get a story and how on occasion it was awkward because once in a while you had to stick your nose in during a bad time for people.

The bottom line is these folks have more on their plate than you may be aware of.

I thought of this today when Kerry Picket of the Washington Times came by, she had come in to visit with us BLOGCON bloggers and hang out a bit. It was past midnight and most of us were relaxing.

I first met Kerry during the Brown campaign, Stacy had introduced us at the North End Brown/Guilliani event in the north end and Stacy Ran into her again at the Bill Clinton event and filed her stories on the subject from my dining room table and we of course saw each other at the victory party.

Kerry has a lot more street sense than I do having been many places and seen many things. As I’ve been grabbing everyone in sight I asked her if she would care to do one of my two minute (patient pending interviews).

It wasn’t so odd that she asked if I could catch her in the morning. I had asked several other people here for interviews and we did them at a more convenient time. No big deal, but the way that she did it struck me.

You never saw a person so regretful, she explained had been working hard, and was a bit run down and felt she wasn’t at her best, physically or mentally but she also said that she understood that she asks other people this very question every day and felt guilty for putting me off.

It was an incredible display of class and respect. I’ve asked local MSM people if they would do a short interview and was rewarded by the curt refusal, but only one other time had a reporter (one from Fox 25) decline with regret as he was running to file.

If you have read Kerry’s work or heard on Captain Ed’s show or seen her on Red Eye you know the high quality of her work, however I’m pleased that I can acquaint you dear readers of the high quality of her character.