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Topic: How many of you coach your soundbites?
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Fake Post
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posted November 28, 2006 11:21 AM
I was watching a news person the other day talking off-camera to his interview subject.
The reporter was basically telling his soundbite what to say and when to say it.
When I was a young reporter, I used to background my interview subject but I would NEVER tell them what to say.
How about some of you reporter types. What's the word on coaching your soundbite?
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Spike
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posted November 28, 2006 11:23 AM
If you know how to ask questions and conduct an interview properly, you should never need to coach your subject.
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Roy Hobbs
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posted November 28, 2006 11:25 AM
Totally agree with the Spikester.
The worst interviewees potentially, usually end up being the best sound bites if you let them be themselves and ask open-ended questions.
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Charlie Brown
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posted November 28, 2006 11:39 AM
I haven't ever told anyone what to say or how to say it. That's unethical and ridiculous.
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Sir Dropham Pants
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posted November 28, 2006 11:41 AM
Spike nailed it. Or Spiked it.
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Ryder13
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posted November 28, 2006 11:42 AM
I have NEVER "coached a soundbite". I have re-phrased a question to get a better one -- but that's it. How would you "coach a soundbite" without the end result SOUNDING "coached".
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Tripe Face
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posted November 28, 2006 11:45 AM
Years ago I worked with a reporter, we'll call her Blondie, who was interviewing a guy in charge of a huge outdoor party (500k people attending) on the day of the event.
He was giving her an interveiw on the fly when he probably had a thousand other things to deal with.
After about 3 questions that frankly didn't make much sense, it was obvious that he was just spewing talking points.
Well Blondie got frustrated and scolded him telling him to "talk like a human being".
Needless to say that was the end of the interview.
She's not in tv anymore.
[ November 28, 2006, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: Tripe Face ]
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"Tripe is getting far too much attention.
There will be no dealing with him soon." Writer2 11/9/07
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2:30
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posted November 28, 2006 11:53 AM
If I ever catch a reporter coaching, that reporter's career is in jeopardy. It's a flat out no-no. Completely unacceptable under all circumstances.
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1-21-09. Regime change!
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Produce man
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posted November 28, 2006 12:03 PM
The first thing that came to mind upon reading this thread was an example presented in Linda Ellerbee's book "And so it Goes".
She talks about a "twinkie" reporter who asks this on a mos...
Twinkie: "How did you feel when you saw those construction workers fall to their death"?
MOS: "I didn't see it happen, I just got here."
Twinkie: "Well, if you HAD seen it, how would you have felt?"
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"DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!"
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JoinUsForCake
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posted November 28, 2006 12:13 PM
What kind of lame @$$ small time bullcrap is that to "coach" a soundbite?
I have never encountered that either with a reporter of mine or witnessed it from a competitor.
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"I refuse to live in a world where whispers become fact, and guilty men murmur; the innocent shout to the rafters." -- Jim Williams, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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Lazlo Toth
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posted November 28, 2006 12:24 PM
I wrire them out for the interview subjects. They seem to appreciate not having to come up with an answer of their own. Then we do it over and over until it sounds natural and fits the time slot I allowed in the script that I already wrote before leaving the station.
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Nowhere are prejudices more mistaken for truth, passion for reason, and invective for documentation than in politics. This a realm, peopled only by villains or heroes, in which everything is black or white and gray is a forbidden color.
-- John Mason Brown, Through These Men (1956)
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Produce man
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posted November 28, 2006 12:25 PM
Sorry cake, but it happens.
Actually, it used to happen. Back in 1992, in my photog days, I actually witnessed my reporter not only coach the soundbytes, but pay for the props that the participants used in the story.
Now granted, it was a feature on the cantaloupe festival in Pecos, Texas, but I was still shocked that she just "created" a news story.
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"DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!"
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Meow Meow
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posted November 28, 2006 12:27 PM
I DO I DO I DO!!!
I would never dream of doing it as a GA Reporter or even during my features, but when I do entertainment stuff - you betchya!
I learned it from watching reality tv interviews from behind the scenes. Those producers can make even the smartest most articulate people say ANYTHING. Every single one of those interviews is so coached the interviewee has NO idea what they are even saying. Shameless, but true.
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Produce man
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posted November 28, 2006 12:28 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
I wrire them out for the interview subjects. They seem to appreciate not having to come up with an answer of their own. Then we do it over and over until it sounds natural and fits the time slot I allowed in the script that I already wrote before leaving the station.
LOL, I've seen that, too.
(I hope I correctly picked up your sarcasm)
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"DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!"
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Sultanosurf
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posted November 28, 2006 12:32 PM
Yep. In my mind.
It usually starts with "Great! Now could you just say the same thing only faster?"
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Signature on File
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posted November 28, 2006 02:36 PM
Well, I can see the question being asked again to a person if he/she answers with out a complete sentence. We have reporters that will do the, "What was that?, I didn't hear you!" thing to get people to repeat what they said. Usually the second time they will answer in a complete sentence. I just saw a raw interview in the edit room, where one of our reporters did the following:
reporter:..."Does the loss of three family members tug at your heart?"
subject; "Yes, I feel a great loss!"
reporter: "Why?"
subject; "because they were my family..you friken asshole!", "What kind of question was that?
[ November 28, 2006, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: H R Puff&Stuff ]
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Diplomat
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posted November 28, 2006 02:48 PM
Ask the question. Give your subject the floor. Then it's up to them. If he or she doesn't sound that great, that's life.
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"I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University."
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Emily Latella
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posted November 28, 2006 02:52 PM
Why not? A megastar afternoon syndicated host's field producers do it all the time. That makes it OK. Just shape the story to your preconceived notions.
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oh, that's different ..... never mind.
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Michigan J. Frog
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posted November 28, 2006 02:54 PM
Coach your subject for any interview that airs within a newscast, and you should lose your job.
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"It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of those liberties which make the defense of the nation worthwhile." -Earl Warren
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Mr. Rugen
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posted November 28, 2006 02:54 PM
I don't think this is quite the same as what you guys do but I've been shooting interview style promos for the past few weeks for a promo campaign we're doing.
The director has wanted a specific response from each person, and has tried to get that without putting the actual words in their mouths.
he's yet to get exactly what he wants from them but still refuses to tell them what to say.
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Lazlo Toth
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posted November 28, 2006 03:01 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Produce man:
quote:
Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
I wrire them out for the interview subjects. They seem to appreciate not having to come up with an answer of their own. Then we do it over and over until it sounds natural and fits the time slot I allowed in the script that I already wrote before leaving the station.
LOL, I've seen that, too.
(I hope I correctly picked up your sarcasm)
Sarcasm? Moi?
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Nowhere are prejudices more mistaken for truth, passion for reason, and invective for documentation than in politics. This a realm, peopled only by villains or heroes, in which everything is black or white and gray is a forbidden color.
-- John Mason Brown, Through These Men (1956)
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TheFace
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posted November 28, 2006 03:28 PM
I worked with a reporter who used to (and may still..I don't know) tell his interviews word for word what he wanted them to say. Made them memorize it and repeat it back to him on camera to use as soundbites. He thought it made the story easier to write that way!
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JoinUsForCake
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posted November 28, 2006 04:00 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Produce man:
Actually, it used to happen. Back in 1992, in my photog days, I actually witnessed my reporter not only coach the soundbytes, but pay for the props that the participants used in the story.
Now granted, it was a feature on the cantaloupe festival in Pecos, Texas, but I was still shocked that she just "created" a news story.
Wow. I guess I haven't been (un)fortunate enough to witness that. Amazing...
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"I refuse to live in a world where whispers become fact, and guilty men murmur; the innocent shout to the rafters." -- Jim Williams, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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Emily Latella
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posted November 28, 2006 04:32 PM
One day I was watching a raw feed of a network affiliate news service doing live shots from a beachfront hotel balcony about 10 hrs before the landfall of a hurricane. It was a random affiliate reporter's turn and he had a local official as a guest. It was not raining at the time. I watched him prior to his window take a cup of water and splash it on his face, hair & shirt. He then proceeded to ask his guest if he could do the same to him. The guest refused.
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oh, that's different ..... never mind.
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Soul Doubt
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posted November 28, 2006 04:47 PM
After I coach them, I have them stage the event just so I can get a few different angles. I then take a gift over 25 dollars. Then I dub copies for our competing station if they were late to the shoot. (I normally can net between 20 or 50 bucks depending on the importance of the shoot) When I get back to the station, oftentimes, I'll hand the tape to the editor to cut it for me and leave early. On any given day, I'll also doctor my time card to make it appear as though I've worked late that night. I usually make it to the bar by happy hour.
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If sometimes you feel yourself little, useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious sperm out of hundreds of millions.
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s'news
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posted November 28, 2006 05:21 PM
While I would never tell them what to say, I'm not above having them run a few laps.
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Don Konkey
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posted November 28, 2006 05:29 PM
I have never seen anyone coach a soundbite, nor have I myself. I have rephrased questions 4 or five times until they say something usable, and I often have people stage usual behaviors if I can't get it natrually. So I am not taken out of context, I will cite an example. On Thanksgiving, we did a story about a soup kitchen's meal for the evening. We missed the bulk of the line going through, so I ask them if they would mind making a plate of food just for the purposes of me shooting them doing it. That's certainly not outrageous, is it?
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The formerly known as Peter Gibbons / Gazillion Watt Doppler
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Ferrycrossthemersey
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posted November 28, 2006 05:36 PM
Well, yeah, it is.
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Soul Doubt
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posted November 28, 2006 05:39 PM
We like to call it 'staging'
I don't know what they call it outside of the biz.
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If sometimes you feel yourself little, useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious sperm out of hundreds of millions.
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Roy Hobbs
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posted November 28, 2006 06:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Gibbons:
I have never seen anyone coach a soundbite, nor have I myself. I have rephrased questions 4 or five times until they say something usable, and I often have people stage usual behaviors if I can't get it natrually. So I am not taken out of context, I will cite an example. On Thanksgiving, we did a story about a soup kitchen's meal for the evening. We missed the bulk of the line going through, so I ask them if they would mind making a plate of food just for the purposes of me shooting them doing it. That's certainly not outrageous, is it?
Ugh. Unethical, unprofessional and hack-ishness at its best.
Next time capture what happens and write for that. If you want to re-create things that already happened sign up for a reality show.
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Sultanosurf
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posted November 28, 2006 06:22 PM
Thenkew, s'news... Hey, he's here all week, folks!
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s'news
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posted November 28, 2006 07:07 PM
Sultan, see those goalposts over there? Git running!
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Michigan J. Frog
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posted November 28, 2006 07:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Roy Hobbs:
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Gibbons:
I have never seen anyone coach a soundbite, nor have I myself. I have rephrased questions 4 or five times until they say something usable, and I often have people stage usual behaviors if I can't get it natrually. So I am not taken out of context, I will cite an example. On Thanksgiving, we did a story about a soup kitchen's meal for the evening. We missed the bulk of the line going through, so I ask them if they would mind making a plate of food just for the purposes of me shooting them doing it. That's certainly not outrageous, is it?
Ugh. Unethical, unprofessional and hack-ishness at its best.
Next time capture what happens and write for that. If you want to re-create things that already happened sign up for a reality show.
Yep, gotta agree.
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"It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of those liberties which make the defense of the nation worthwhile." -Earl Warren
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Who Cares???
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posted November 28, 2006 08:18 PM
This is just too friggin' funny...
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"Res ipsa loquitur"
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Sultanosurf
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posted November 28, 2006 08:36 PM
I'll fess up. Coaching, no. But I HAVE had a PIO say something inflammatory and ask 'em if that was really what they meant to say. Some people you gotta work with every week.
Funny thing, nearly every time, they've stuck with their original comments. Even the times when they said some pretty strange stuff.
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Pro
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posted November 29, 2006 01:26 AM
OK, I confess. I've done this. But only to the extent of asking a subject re-state what they just said and instead of using "it" or "they", say specifically what the person or group is they are referring to. I explain that I'll only get to use a part of what they said and in the ineterst of time, I won't be able to explain what they are referring to. You know, just be specific.
Usually I try to tell interviewees this in advance but sometimes I forget - or they forget.
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bride
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posted November 29, 2006 04:23 AM
A few weeks ago, one of my regular interviews on my show tried to coach ME on what to ask HIM, so the interview would go a certain way. I chalked it up to ignorance about how the interviewing process operates.
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booyah
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posted November 29, 2006 07:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Emily Latella:
One day I was watching a raw feed of a network affiliate news service doing live shots from a beachfront hotel balcony about 10 hrs before the landfall of a hurricane. It was a random affiliate reporter's turn and he had a local official as a guest. It was not raining at the time. I watched him prior to his window take a cup of water and splash it on his face, hair & shirt. He then proceeded to ask his guest if he could do the same to him. The guest refused.
NO WAY! If that happened in front of me, I would lose MY job for slapping that reporter silly. I've seen the coaching thing done, unfortunately. We had a reporter that would write the story before leaving the station and then tell the interview what to say. It was known that she did it, but somehow she kept her job. Not for long, though. She moved on to bigger and better things. Nice rack, though. Not that that has anything to do with anything, of course.
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