Cynthetiq

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/...ints-headlines

For Media, This Man Is a Walking Sound Bite
Sheryl McCarthy

June 23, 2003

If you're a working journalist, it's hard not to be amused by Greg Packer, the Long Island highway maintenance worker who was recently revealed as the ever-present "man on the street" in scores of news stories around the country.

Packer makes a point of showing up at assorted media events and staking out a prominent spot so that he'll be noticed and interviewed by members of the press. According to a recent Wall Street Journal story, during the week that Hillary Clinton's autobiography hit the bookstores Packer showed up at several book signings and wound up being quoted a dozen times in various newspapers, as well as being interviewed for television.

One reporter's Internet search uncovered at least 100 Packer quotes. He's been quoted on stories as diverse as the latest "Star Wars" movie, this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Packer occasionally hits the jackpot by talking to Associated Press reporters and having his remarks circulated to news organizations around the country.

His comments are bland and his insights are negligible. When waiting to see the pope at Giants Stadium in 1995, he told a Newsday reporter, "I believe it'll be inspirational and something I'll never forget." For a Newsday story about Clinton's new book, he said the senator "is a smart woman." But reporters are desperate for man-on-the-street stuff, and because Packer makes himself available he could well be the most widely quoted regular Joe in history.

He admits he craves attention, telling The New York Times he needs to be quoted because "I just need to show people I'm alive."

His sound-bite scam is a kind of one-up on us journalists. We seek out quotes from ordinary men and women to decorate our stories, give them an air of authenticity and prove that we were there.

For facts, reasoned arguments and spin, we go to politicians, lawyers, activists and to the people whose lives are directly affected by the events and issues we cover. For emotion we look to regular folks, assuming that they are windows into how the general public thinks and feels.

Sometimes we're looking for comments that confirm what we're trying to say in the story. And we want to impress our bosses by showing that we've been out on the street and were not just loitering in our cubicles.

The fact that Greg Packer's quotes have turned up everywhere suggests that man-on-the-street interviews are worthless. As one of my colleagues pointed out: "What if there's only one man!" What's more, Packer's overuse suggests that it doesn't matter whom reporters talk to, as long as they get a quote from somebody. And since Packer's so available, why not just go to him and save ourselves some shoe leather?

I think the reason Packer is quoted so often is that journalists hate man-on-the-street interviews. It's demeaning to have to scan a crowd of total strangers, seaching for someone who looks like he or she might have something quotable to say, and won't tell you to get lost. What a relief to spot a Packer at the head of the line, ready and eager to give you a sound bite.

Before I write off such interviews as a total waste of time, however, let me say that occasionally they offer us a perspective that surprises us, that gives us some real insight, that points us toward the truth of the story we're trying to tell.

Like the woman in Macy's years ago who, when asked her opinion of a wealthy and powerful real- estate mogul and his then-pregnant mistress, whose antics were being followed religiously by the press, dismissed them both as "trash." There was the man outside the Times Square record store on Sept. 11, 2001, who, asked the meaning of that day's horrible events, said quietly: "I think the United States needs to think about how it treats other people." And there was the guy I met at an exhibit of the proposed designs for rebuilding Ground Zero, who pointed to the design with the tallest building and said, "That one. It'll show the people who bombed us that we're not only back, but we're better."

Sometimes by being out on the street, mingling in the crowd, hearing what people say, we're able to catch what's in the wind, and it changes the whole direction of a story. That's more valuable than anything we pick up in the newsroom - provided we avoid the Greg Packers of the world.
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Having some of my friends that do this for news organizations and also for MTV, it's hard to find someone that's going to give you the time of day. The other day I saw some production associates (PAs) trying to give away David Letterman tickets, (usually he's booked up for months in advance) and not a single taker.

I'm thinking that this "sound byte" that is needed to make the story seem more human is just a bunch of hooey since it can be used to spin your point of view as needed.

__________________
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Sen

That is pretty ridiculous.

__________________
"I want to announce my presence with authority!"

"You want to what?"

"I want to announce my presence with authority!!"

Sparhawk

Amusing! I never knew journalists had such a hard time doing those interviews though. The viewers' impression is always that there are a bunch of people waiting to throw their (usually misinformed, ignorant) opinions out there.

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

gibber71

As banal as it sounds,at least they are actually asking someone their opinion rather than making one up.