Thread: Sooooo.................

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The lesson I learned is that they edit in/out what they want. About five years ago a local TV station wanted to interview me about the question as to whether folks needed to buy high test gas. I prepared what I thought was a very short set of comments recommending that folks wanting to save on the cost of premium could get a tune up to adjust timng and/or do the "ping test" going up a hill and trying to accelerate without changing gears or downshifting to decide if they needed high test. Then I made a tinker toy model of the branched form of octane. The whole interview was less than ten minutes and I figured they would edit it some but when it aired they had whittled it down to just one sentence with me holding a model that had no explantion. Aside from the subtle manipulation of political views, there is a diservice to general science so they let you say what you want and then they edit out one or two sound bites and that is it! Sooo, if you get a chance for an interview be prepared to say your main point in ten words or less and get to it right away. Don't give them material to edit other comments, just make your point in a few words and that is it. Sure they have Bosses/Editors and time deadlines but you need to avoid giving them too much material to manipulate. My pet peeve is when TV reporters mangle the pronunciation of the names of chemicals and they make it so apparent that their background includes very little science (many have law degrees or a degree in Communication), yet there they are trying to "inform" the public in a newspaper vocabulary of 1000 words or less in an age that depends on technology. Still when you retire try to catch Bill Hemmer and Megan Kelly on FOX in the 10-11 AM slot, they do a pretty good job in a lively way, so there are good reporters. Did I just use more than ten words?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder