I interviewed the owner of Tazza’s Espresso Bar in Cronulla recently. He was abrupt and in a rush, and I found myself tripping over the questions I had haphazardly written (assuming the interview would take its own direction from my little leads). The more he short-answered me, the more I became unsure of my own questions and the feeling of awkwardness grew. Of course, a few minutes in I had regained control and he was polite enough, but I certainly learned my lesson on being too self-assured about ‘winging it’ pre-interview.

I suppose Chris Frost throws a good suggestion in the air to counteract these problems -

“while no interviewee….wants to spend ages setting the scene, a little ice-breaking in all but the most urgent situations is an essential aid to good communication.”

I guess the formalities of my first interview set an awkward scene. Valuable lessons from rookie errors = priceless.

Journalists face an ongoing battle between ethics, society’s right to information, and the subject’s right to privacy. No matter the area of Journalism which I am interested in, I will remain constantly aware of the fine balance between writer’s integrity and discarding the correct manner of behaviour in regards to the three areas of battle.

I have always felt that while intimate pictures of Britney Spears are chock-full of easy entertainment value for the average viewer, the issues most relevant to our society are observations about the laws, conventions and figures who create, enforce and lead the people – Political and Crime & Law stories. What more fascinating area of writing could there be than the one which discusses movements and actions of our nation’s structure, the laws which determine our daily lifestyle, and the people we elect within whom we can see a vague forecast of things to come?

With that said, reporting within this field is highly delicate. I often wonder – to what extent does a journalist simply report their preferences and feelings towards political groups and issues? By delivering political reports, a Journalist should simply convey information they have regarding this news, rather than influence in the way that they personally feel.

Journalists have a responsibility. It will be a constant aim to work alongside the knowledge of this responsibility, and the awareness of journalistic ethics. And to strive never to sink to desperate depths and post a story on new photos of Britney’s bits.

Make yourself at home.

PS – I guarantee more interesting posts ahead.

brontecoy