Oh, and about people being worried that their words will be twisted in the morning paper...
You will want to let them know when you let them know that a reporter is present (before you open the space) that the way the media works is that they are story gatherers, but they are also by the nature of transforming stories for their specific media: in other words, story compressors. And in compressing a complex thought to a few simple lines of text or a ‘sound byte’ on television, they may ‘cut and paste’ words they hear together, *thinking* that in doing so they are capturing the essence of a story. Also, as they are not immersed in the issues as your participants may be, they are listening as a kind and intelligent (but still an) outsider. So the sentence you say may not have the context of the next sentence you say after that. It’s frustrating, and they are often on such a deadline that you won’t have any chance to read what they are about to print / broadcast. Though it is good to have your contact person make a follow up call when the reporter returns to work to see if she has any questions or to let her know about other things that happened while she was not there. You take your chances. But Open Space is a great visual medium, and if she’s a print, photo or television journalist you can have your contact person inform her of the times of the day to come in for great visuals of dynamic things being discussed. Could be a great way to get others in the country energized and hopeful about new thinking. I worked for the local NBC affiliate television station for several years here in the San Francisco Bay Area – for television you had to squeeze a complex story into a minute and ten seconds, *including* the reporter’s intro and closure. Quite a challenge. But I worked with a lot of reporters with integrity and the drive to try to really hear and watch for the essence of the story. Maybe it got a bit squished by airtime, what with short edits and outsider interpretations. But the more you invite them to be a team with an on-site partner and some preparation, the more chance you have for better coverage. Take care, Lisa - - - L i s a H e f t Consultant, facilitator, educator Open Space Technology and Experiential Learning 2325 Oregon Berkeley, California 94705-1106 USA (+01) 510 548-8449 lisah...@pacbell.net www.openspaceworld.com -----Original Message----- but I keep asking myself what happens if people find their name and picture and words quoted (or twisted) in the morning paper...