journalists in an OS

[Lisa Heft]

Oh, and about people being worried that their words will be twisted in the
morning paper...

You will want to let them know when you let them know that a reporter is
present (before you open the space) that the way the media works is that
they are story gatherers, but they are also by the nature of transforming
stories for their specific media: in other words, story compressors.  And in
compressing a complex thought to a few simple lines of text or a ‘sound
byte’ on television, they may ‘cut and paste’ words they hear together,
*thinking* that in doing so they are capturing the essence of a story.
Also, as they are not immersed in the issues as your participants may be,
they are listening as a kind and intelligent (but still an) outsider.  So
the sentence you say may not have the context of the next sentence you say
after that.

It’s frustrating, and they are often on such a deadline that you won’t have
any chance to read what they are about to print / broadcast.  Though it is
good to have your contact person make a follow up call when the reporter
returns to work to see if she has any questions or to let her know about
other things that happened while she was not there.

You take your chances.

But Open Space is a great visual medium, and if she’s a print, photo or
television journalist you can have your contact person inform her of the
times of the day to come in for great visuals of dynamic things being
discussed.  Could be a great way to get others in the country energized and
hopeful about new thinking.

I worked for the local NBC affiliate television station for several years
here in the San Francisco Bay Area – for television you had to squeeze a
complex story into a minute and ten seconds, *including* the reporter’s
intro and closure.  Quite a challenge.  But I worked with a lot of reporters
with integrity and the drive to try to really hear and watch for the essence
of the story.  Maybe it got a bit squished by airtime, what with short edits
and outsider interpretations.  But the more you invite them to be a team
with an on-site partner and some preparation, the more chance you have for
better coverage.

Take care,

Lisa

- - -
L i s a   H e f t
Consultant, facilitator, educator
Open Space Technology and Experiential Learning

2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106  USA
(+01) 510 548-8449
lisaheft at pacbell.net
www.openspaceworld.com

-----Original Message-----
 but I keep asking myself what happens if people find their name and picture
and words quoted (or twisted) in the morning paper...

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