How do you ‘do’ journalism? At a time when anyone plying this trade has probably never had their bona fides so routinely challenged, in a way that, say, an electrician or plumber is rarely going to encounter on social media, it’s certainly a question worth posing.
It’s probably one to which a whole variety of answers can be provided, all of which, no doubt, would be routinely challenged by those who’ve never written a council, court or match report. And do you know what? I’m fine with that. After all, who the hell am I?
The longer anyone stays in journalism, the easier it becomes to get stuck in a comfortable groove, sit behind a desk from one end of the day to the other, rewrite press releases and simply stick one’s by-line on such copy. That’s an unavoidable element of the job – well, the editing of press releases at the very least is – but it certainly shouldn’t be the brief’s primary element.
Now maybe that’s enough for some working in a trade which has been involved in a fight for its very survival for at least half of my own career – but it’s not enough for me. And it never will be.
Yesterday, I stood at the bus stop on Main Street in Tallow, the most westerly town in my native Waterford and interviewed City & County Mayor John Pratt (Labour) about the Covid-19 pandemic. For just over 15 minutes, we spoke about how people in the locality are faring with the restrictions given the stay-at-home directives announced by the Irish Government on March 27th, which will at the very least remain in effect until May 5th.
I asked Mayor Pratt about the prospect of the Labour Party joining or facilitating a government which will be spearheaded by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the difficulties facing nursing homes and the extent of the task facing Waterford City & County Council due to Covid-19.
I also asked him about the local authority’s budgeting measures and potential infrastructural projects before concluding by asking him for a message he’d like to share with the people of Waterford.
Could I have done this all by phone? Yes, but given that I was driving through the west of the county for the Waterford News & Star yesterday, mirroring my reporting trip through the east of the county on Easter Sunday (April 12th), I felt meeting the Mayor face to face while observing physical distancing, was a practical and sensible option during my afternoon on the road. I was going to be in his neck of the woods so why not take the time to talk like this, the way most reporters probably don't do enough of nowadays.
There is no substitute for directly meeting an interviewee, a point Paul Kimmage made in his most recent Sunday Independent contribution.
“I don’t like phones. I’ve never liked phones. Those great names I’ve interviewed? They were all face-to-face. Gary (O’Toole) in his parents’ home in Bray; Floyd Landis at a cabin in the San Jacinto mountains; Roy Keane in room 311 of the Hyatt Regency in Saipan; Boris Becker at the Mandarin Oriental in Munich; Seve Ballesteros at the Hardwick Hall hotel in Durham; Pádraig Harrington…everywhere. But this poxy Covid thing has compromised us all.”
Kimmage continues: “I did my first interview on Zoom last week – four hours of reaching for my subject through a tiny laptop screen. It’s better than the phone and you’re arguably face-to-face, but it’s not the same. It’s not one-on-one. There’s stuff you miss. Stuff that matters. Rory (McIlroy) driving to the shop for toilet roll. The tattered carpet in Floyd’s living room. Those priceless moments when character is revealed.” Amen to that.
As I spoke to John Pratt on Tallow’s Main Street, with just a handful of people in sight, a man operating a cherry picker in front of McCarthy’s Bar opposite us did the cherry-picking equivalent of skipping a gear.
“You nearly had a different story altogether,” the Mayor laughed. As the engine silenced across the street, my main concern there and then was that the audio of our interview was still audible given that the cherry picker was operable for the entire duration of our conversation.
When I returned to my car, a quick check thankfully revealed that every word could be distinguished so I emailed the audio to myself before crossing the River Bride once more, bound for Lismore, Cappoquin and Dungarvan.
I drove back from the west knowing I had a colour piece to prepare for our website in addition to the prospect of breaking Mayor Pratt’s comments into two separate stories for both our web and print editions. It was a journey well worth making.
For me, it represented good use of my work time and was in keeping with the credibility which, I’d like to think, has also been underlined by the depth of coverage my colleagues have provided throughout this public health emergency. Credibility matters, so too competence.
Striving for both each and every week (and daily when it comes to online) keeps readers keen and, hopefully, advertisers interested in an era when every sale and page impression counts.
“No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money,” said Samuel Johnson. Well, there’s no avoiding that bill-paying reality. But if you can retain credibility as a reporter and enthusiasm for reporting in equal measure, then there’s a good chance you’ll get to the end of each week without despising the reflection in the mirror.
There may well be easier and more lucrative trades out there, but journalism feels like the one best suited to me, a profession that I’ll always strive to avoid muddling through for however many years still lie ahead of me.
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