In journalism, things will not always go as planned.
When I first began writing at my University’s student newspaper, The Gatepost. I had no idea what I was doing.
One of my very first assignments was a weekly feature called “Gatepost Interview” or GPI for short.
The concept of the article is fairly simple - to interview someone and transcribe their answers.
Knowing this, I went into the interview with a new Framingham State employee knowing the importance of recording the interview.
Getting the interview scheduled was difficult to begin with because the woman I was to speak to was very busy with only a small block of time available that whole week. We ended up setting up the meeting and having to meet in an open area because that was the location that fell between her two meetings.
This immediately made me nervous. The thought of doing my very first interview in public where anyone could witness it - embarrassing.
However, I arrived at the interview with everything I needed - camera, pen, small notebook, and phone to record. I had only brought the notebook to read off my questions and to take note of what she said to keep focused during the meeting, however this tiny notebook would come to be one of the worst decisions I ever made.
When the woman arrived, I politely asked if it was OK that I recorded the interview - because it is Massachusetts law to get permission to record - and she responded that she’d rather not.
Rather not.
In my head, I began to panic. How am I supposed to write a transcription article if I can’t record? I began trying to problem solve in my mind and came to the conclusion that if I can take enough notes I can just turn this into a regular article rather than a transcription one.
I was wrong.
But I didn’t know it at the time and hurriedly tried to write word for word what she was saying - not knowing any of the higher education jargon she was sputtering out and trying to block out the noise of the surrounding people.
I began to fill up page after page trying to fit all of her big words in between the tiny lines - by the end my hand was cramping and I doubt any of it was even legible.
The situation only becomes worse when it was time to take the photo. I had no idea how to use the clunky camera and took probably one of the worst photos The Gatepost has ever seen.
With my shaking, frazzled hands, and the fact that she was standing in a dim room in front of bright windows, the photo was never to be seen again - not even worth uploading to the Photos Computer in the office where every Gatepost photo ever taken exists.
What was supposed to be my first article became another week of simply watching during copy-edit as one of the editors had to recover the Gatepost Interview of the week with a different professor - one who accepted being recorded.
Though the situation was embarrassing and I missed out on a really great first opportunity, it was a part of the learning experience. Everything turned out OK in the end.
My failing wasn’t the end of the world and the next article I would go on to write happened to bring about a promotion for myself to Assistant News Editor - but that story will be told another time.
Since this failure, I have gone on to cover many Gatepost Interviews, though those were publishable.
So, my advice? Bring a bigger notebook.
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