I tried my luck vox-popping again today at Belconnen shopping centre. This time I didn't last long because I felt I had enough material. It went alot of the same way as yesterday, although people were generally a bit more relaxed, which I judged was due to it being on a Sunday afternoon.
I thought I would write on how I prepared to use my Eprioll. I started by re-reading the help sheets we were given in class and made sure all my settings were correct, that the batteries are working fine, and making sure I set up the microphone to ensure the best possible atmosphere.
I practiced by conducting an interview with my friend three times, and then I played it back. I'm glad I did this as the first time I completely stuffed up the recording - pressing the hold button instead of the off button and then completely forgetting to press record two times.
I found the Epiroll quite easy to use, and afterwards I just downloaded all the audio files onto my computer and listened to it. The background noise was a slight problem as I had conducted all my vox pops on the outside of a shopping centre, but I guess this is to be expected.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
A day out vox popping
Well today I finally hit the streets to collect my vox pops. The location was Woden shopping centre, the time was early Saturday afternoon. I placed myself at the entrance of the shopping centre, near the supermarkets.
I wasn't nervous leading up to doing my vox pops but I definitely underestimated how hard they were going to be. I literally thought people would be willing to answer a couple of questions, but many didn't even let me open my mouth. I think the main thing that surprised me was how many looks of distrust my epiroll recieved. Most of the time people would avoid making eye contact with me in favour of looking unfavourably towards the microphone.
I am not naturally shy, so I had no trouble approaching random people. But when I got knocked back the first four times, I must admit I felt a bit disheartened. Sometimes I couldn't drum up the courage for about five minutes, and I would have to wait until I regained my confidence. I soon learned that I would be more successful approaching people who were coming out of the shopping centre, rather than going in. I also waited alot of the time for the person to make eye contact with me, and then I would try and corner them. I think I should have prepared how I would break the ice first, as I kept saying "Are you busy?" and I think that gave people the excuse to brush me off.
Some people were downright rude, like a group of boys I thought I would target due to their age. But there were a number of really nice people, mostly middle-aged, who even though admitting they knew nothing about soccer, were able to answer a few of my questions.
I decided to stick to the "Would you personally go out and support a Canberra team?" and "How do you think the community would react" questions, but I varied them around a bit and kind of made it more natural. Getting a person's attention was the hard part, but when I did achieve this, I found that interviewing them was like having a normal conversation.
I wish I could have gotten a large range of ages, but for some reason, I mostly got people in the middle-aged bracket. I guess this is ok. I was also able to get comment from three different teenagers. Most of my interviewees were white and I would have liked a more multicultural mix, but I guess in a subject like this, a person's background may not affect their view because sport is universal and soccer is the world game.
To be honest, if I had to do a lot of vox pop interviews as part of my work, I would easily fall into depression. I didn't generally enjoy the experience and would not like to do it on a daily basis. I was kind of glad I wasn't doing it for TV though - I feel that it would have been harder. I couldn't believe the distrust associated with the microphone, so I feel having a video camera would have made the task all the more problematic.
Another interesting point was how I represented myself. I was dressed in office attire, as was suggested, but I found it was easier to say I was working on an assignment than a news report. My lecturer had reccomended saying we were a reporter for the UC website, but a few times people looked worringly at me and asked whether it would end up being broadcast. I had to reassure them that it was not. So I think it would be a lot harder if I actually do become a radio journalist and have to do this. I found people were more willing to deal with me when I said I was a student.
I intend to try a few more times. I checked my interviews and they sounded fine quality wise but the tutor reccomended we have about 20 raw interviews, and we use only five. I am considering doing it tomorrow or hiring the epiroll again. But I will see how they turn out in newsboss when I try and edit and find a good angle for the story.
I wasn't nervous leading up to doing my vox pops but I definitely underestimated how hard they were going to be. I literally thought people would be willing to answer a couple of questions, but many didn't even let me open my mouth. I think the main thing that surprised me was how many looks of distrust my epiroll recieved. Most of the time people would avoid making eye contact with me in favour of looking unfavourably towards the microphone.
I am not naturally shy, so I had no trouble approaching random people. But when I got knocked back the first four times, I must admit I felt a bit disheartened. Sometimes I couldn't drum up the courage for about five minutes, and I would have to wait until I regained my confidence. I soon learned that I would be more successful approaching people who were coming out of the shopping centre, rather than going in. I also waited alot of the time for the person to make eye contact with me, and then I would try and corner them. I think I should have prepared how I would break the ice first, as I kept saying "Are you busy?" and I think that gave people the excuse to brush me off.
Some people were downright rude, like a group of boys I thought I would target due to their age. But there were a number of really nice people, mostly middle-aged, who even though admitting they knew nothing about soccer, were able to answer a few of my questions.
I decided to stick to the "Would you personally go out and support a Canberra team?" and "How do you think the community would react" questions, but I varied them around a bit and kind of made it more natural. Getting a person's attention was the hard part, but when I did achieve this, I found that interviewing them was like having a normal conversation.
I wish I could have gotten a large range of ages, but for some reason, I mostly got people in the middle-aged bracket. I guess this is ok. I was also able to get comment from three different teenagers. Most of my interviewees were white and I would have liked a more multicultural mix, but I guess in a subject like this, a person's background may not affect their view because sport is universal and soccer is the world game.
To be honest, if I had to do a lot of vox pop interviews as part of my work, I would easily fall into depression. I didn't generally enjoy the experience and would not like to do it on a daily basis. I was kind of glad I wasn't doing it for TV though - I feel that it would have been harder. I couldn't believe the distrust associated with the microphone, so I feel having a video camera would have made the task all the more problematic.
Another interesting point was how I represented myself. I was dressed in office attire, as was suggested, but I found it was easier to say I was working on an assignment than a news report. My lecturer had reccomended saying we were a reporter for the UC website, but a few times people looked worringly at me and asked whether it would end up being broadcast. I had to reassure them that it was not. So I think it would be a lot harder if I actually do become a radio journalist and have to do this. I found people were more willing to deal with me when I said I was a student.
I intend to try a few more times. I checked my interviews and they sounded fine quality wise but the tutor reccomended we have about 20 raw interviews, and we use only five. I am considering doing it tomorrow or hiring the epiroll again. But I will see how they turn out in newsboss when I try and edit and find a good angle for the story.
Monday, March 23, 2009
A stupid mistake means a wasted weekend
I had my Epiroll reservation set for this weekend and guess what? I couldn't get to the office on time on Friday to pick it up. I was very frustrated over the weekend, especially since the assignment is edging closer and closer.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Epirolls and questions
Well I’ve hired the Epiroll out for this weekend, and now all I have to do is contemplate my questions, my location and how I approach people. I will write an entry on working around the Epiroll problems after I have recorded.
The reason I am keen to get my vox pops done is because I know that slowly, the issue is leaking out of timeliness. There have been a number of other sporting achievements in the capital this week – most notably our woman’s basketball team’s win over the Bulleen Boomers.
Also murking the waters is the beginning of the NRL and AFL seasons – which means a lot of people no longer really have soccer on their minds. I will consider this when I start drafting my questions.
My tutor recommended thinking about how we will approach people when we conduct our vox pops, and even said that we should also consider simple things, like how we are dressed.
He also said that we should think about the appropriateness of the location. I have considered this over the past few day in relation to my subject matter. Going to a local shopping centre seemed a little bit ambiguous to me, as I didn’t think normal shoppers would actually have an opinion, or particularly care, about a soccer team for Canberra.
So I thought I could attend a local game, which is sure to bring out some passionate supporters, and possible opponents of the bid.
But I checked the website – http://www.capitalfootball.com.au - and discovered that the men, women and junior draws don’t start until next month. That is a shame, but I guess a reality of journalism. Sometimes you have to make the most of what you have when working to a deadline.
Then I thought that maybe it is a blessing in disguise. A local soccer team representing Canberra in the A-League will not just be of interest to those involved in soccer activities on a regular basis – it may also be eagerly awaited by average punters, those you see in shopping centres. So although I had wanted to be original and solicit some great quotes, I think in the interest of getting a broader community opinion, shopping centres really are the only way to go.
To be honest, I’m kind of dreading going up to random strangers and asking them questions. It’s worse then ringing up a prominent person and challenging them with the tough questions.
But I have found some sort of opinions on popular Canberra blog the RiotACT, that may help me understand what the average Canberran feels about the proposal.
Here are some of the comments:
Read more of the comments here.
This has given me a bit of an insight into one of the concerns about having an A-League team – it will fail to draw a crowd to compete with other sports. I can frame one of my questions around this. I’m thinking something along the lines of, would the person ever attend a game if Canberra did have an A-League team. Or would they support them over other teams.
This is interesting because the blog entry was written last year, before record crowds turned out to see Kuwait vs the Socceroos in Canberra earlier this month. Although it should be noted that this is a national team, so of course it is going to draw higher crowds.
I know that when I do my vox pops, I will only have space to ask maybe two questions of the one person – and in the interest of fairness, I really should make my first question the same for everybody. But I think I can draft a few extra questions to ask different people, in order to get an interesting assortment of opinions.
The reason I am keen to get my vox pops done is because I know that slowly, the issue is leaking out of timeliness. There have been a number of other sporting achievements in the capital this week – most notably our woman’s basketball team’s win over the Bulleen Boomers.
Also murking the waters is the beginning of the NRL and AFL seasons – which means a lot of people no longer really have soccer on their minds. I will consider this when I start drafting my questions.
My tutor recommended thinking about how we will approach people when we conduct our vox pops, and even said that we should also consider simple things, like how we are dressed.
He also said that we should think about the appropriateness of the location. I have considered this over the past few day in relation to my subject matter. Going to a local shopping centre seemed a little bit ambiguous to me, as I didn’t think normal shoppers would actually have an opinion, or particularly care, about a soccer team for Canberra.
So I thought I could attend a local game, which is sure to bring out some passionate supporters, and possible opponents of the bid.
But I checked the website – http://www.capitalfootball.com.au - and discovered that the men, women and junior draws don’t start until next month. That is a shame, but I guess a reality of journalism. Sometimes you have to make the most of what you have when working to a deadline.
Then I thought that maybe it is a blessing in disguise. A local soccer team representing Canberra in the A-League will not just be of interest to those involved in soccer activities on a regular basis – it may also be eagerly awaited by average punters, those you see in shopping centres. So although I had wanted to be original and solicit some great quotes, I think in the interest of getting a broader community opinion, shopping centres really are the only way to go.
To be honest, I’m kind of dreading going up to random strangers and asking them questions. It’s worse then ringing up a prominent person and challenging them with the tough questions.
But I have found some sort of opinions on popular Canberra blog the RiotACT, that may help me understand what the average Canberran feels about the proposal.
Here are some of the comments:
FredJ, There would be some support for an A-League team here. Canberra has some very good football(soccer) teams here and a lot of players have come from and/or have spent time in Canberra , Carl Valeri, Lindsay Wilson even Joe Simunic (croatia) to name a few. Canberra also has a lot of registered players ,although most would be juniors…
The problem we have in Canberra is that we are really not loyal to our sporting teams. Canberra loves a winning team, no matter what sport, unfortunately when that team doesn’t win the Canberra support starts to falter. There is always the hardcore fans that would a support their team no matter what, but I dont think that they are enough to be viable.
Unfortunately, in the world of proffessional sport (especially Football) money talks. I dont see Canberra as being big enough. Being able to drum up enough support to draw crowds in through the gate week in and week out might be a bit of a problem.
Having said that, I hope that I am wrong. I would love to see an A-League team here.
- From RAGD
They (Cosmos) averaged 2 or 3 thousand a game each season…I reckon an A League team would easily double that (higher profile of the comp) without even trying. With some promotion (& yes, some good results) I’m sure they’d pull enough punters through the gates to make it viable. The Brumbies still get around 14000 (at a time when they’re not as good as they once were), Raiders probably get around 8000 or so a game (bit of a guess). We’re not all that fickle as a crowd really.
- From justbands
The A-League is a whole new ball game. Crowds have sharply increased for all the A-League ‘cities’ accept for Perth who have not been able to get their act together. Canberra could do well in the A-League and I think they would attract a decent crowd but money (sponsorship) is the main problem.
- Crikey
an a-league team in canberra is inevitable, just a matter of three or seven years, or whatever… the a-league have sponsored (for want of better term) a national youth league next season and the wellington phoenix, not being an australian side, are ineligible, so are behind a canbera-based squad, so we’ll get to see a raft of future a-league stars in action.
- from astrojax
Soccer failed previously in Canberra and would fail again. I also suspect that the Raiders will end up with a crowd average higher than the Brumbies in 2008… in a few years time, the Brumbies will move to Melbourne as the core support (without bandwagoners) isn’t large enough for union.
- from greeneyed
Read more of the comments here.
This has given me a bit of an insight into one of the concerns about having an A-League team – it will fail to draw a crowd to compete with other sports. I can frame one of my questions around this. I’m thinking something along the lines of, would the person ever attend a game if Canberra did have an A-League team. Or would they support them over other teams.
This is interesting because the blog entry was written last year, before record crowds turned out to see Kuwait vs the Socceroos in Canberra earlier this month. Although it should be noted that this is a national team, so of course it is going to draw higher crowds.
I know that when I do my vox pops, I will only have space to ask maybe two questions of the one person – and in the interest of fairness, I really should make my first question the same for everybody. But I think I can draft a few extra questions to ask different people, in order to get an interesting assortment of opinions.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Soccer - yikes!
Last week I received my topic for my Vox Pop assignment. I did not have much of a choice unfortunately, due to my lateness in turning up to class (always come early!), but I am satisfied with what I was given. Even if the topic had been as boring as dishwater, I would still have appreciated it. I know that in journalism, not every topic is going to interest you. It's just a simple part of the industry. I would have been interested in getting the Indigenous affairs question, but I know since I work in this field daily, it would not have stretched my abilities.
So I will introduce you, dear reader, to my topic... drum rolls please:
So that involves me researching sport. Yikes. I've never been good at sport and to be honest, I don't care that much about it. The only time I take an interest is when politics leaks into it, like the recent case of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. Was it the Tamil Tigers? Was it the Pakistan Taliban? Was it the ISI? *clears throat* Ok.. .back to the subject.
Luckily, I have had quite the history in soccer. My father is an excellent player and would have made it big had he not broken both his legs, and my sister is planning to accept a soccer scholarship to America later this year. My family pretty much views soccer as their second religion. You can imagine the shame when I didn't convert.
Anyway, despite my background, I still needed to read up on this bid to host an A-League soccer team from Canberra.
I have only just touched the surface, so here are some news articles which I have dug up on the subject:
This is an after-shot of the Australia vs Kuwait game held in Canberra, written by the Canberra Times:
Here's another one I found over the weekend, and it looks as if we are pretty set to get our A-League team:
As I was researching, I had the feeling that I would need to go to external websites, as the bid seems to be covered only by The Canberra Times. This makes it seem as if it is largely a local agenda, so I have decided to frame my questions around this when I begin drafting them. I will also have to be careful in picking my target audience, because soccer is not a huge sport in Canberra.
The A-League 4 Canberra site is a good one for general information. It can be found here.
The Football Federation of Australia is also an important site for research.
So that is all I have done so far. I will do my vox pop questions fairly soon, as I am worried about the timeliness of the questions I will ask. The Australia vs Kuwait game is gradually becoming a distant memory for Canberrans, so I feel as if I will have to get an epiroll out soon and try and get as many opinions as possible. This feels rushed, but I feel I will get the best reaction from people if the questions I ask are more current.
I plan to draft my questions soon and I will document this process later in the week.
Another interesting sidenote is, my friend offered to give me the phone number of an ex-soccer player who represented Australia, and is since heavily involved in the decision over A-League teams etc. I decided against it, mainly because this is a vox-pop assignment with ordinary voices. But it's interesting to note that contacts go a long way, especially in Canberra!
So I will introduce you, dear reader, to my topic... drum rolls please:
Canberra is lauching a bid to join soccer/s national A-League competition but is there enough public and financial support for a team from the ACT?
So that involves me researching sport. Yikes. I've never been good at sport and to be honest, I don't care that much about it. The only time I take an interest is when politics leaks into it, like the recent case of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. Was it the Tamil Tigers? Was it the Pakistan Taliban? Was it the ISI? *clears throat* Ok.. .back to the subject.
Luckily, I have had quite the history in soccer. My father is an excellent player and would have made it big had he not broken both his legs, and my sister is planning to accept a soccer scholarship to America later this year. My family pretty much views soccer as their second religion. You can imagine the shame when I didn't convert.
Anyway, despite my background, I still needed to read up on this bid to host an A-League soccer team from Canberra.
I have only just touched the surface, so here are some news articles which I have dug up on the subject:
This is an after-shot of the Australia vs Kuwait game held in Canberra, written by the Canberra Times:
Proponents of an A-League team in Canberra would have been delighted at Thursday evening's Asian Cup qualifier between Australia and Kuwait at Canberra Stadium: not at the result the Socceroos lost to the lowly rated Kuwait team but at the fact that 20,000 people turned up for the match.
The healthy turnout adds weight to their claims that the ACT is ready to support an A-League team if the game's governing body, Football Federation Australia, grants it a licence when the competition expands from 10 to 12 teams in the 2010-11 season.
Here's another one I found over the weekend, and it looks as if we are pretty set to get our A-League team:
Canberra is a significant step closer to having its own A-League team.
That's the word from Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley after a successful audition from the Canberra community on Thursday night and a meeting with the A-League4Canberra bid team yesterday.
Buckley attended Thursday night's Asian Cup qualifier between Australia and Kuwait and said the crowd of 20,032 had impressed him.
''It's been a fantastic two days,'' Buckley told The Canberra Times yesterday.
''[On Thursday] it was a great atmosphere and the crowd was enthusiastic in their support and they came out in strong numbers.
''So we were delighted with the response from the football and sporting community from Canberra and the surrounding region.''
Buckley and other FFA officials sat down yesterday with Canberra's A-League bid team led by Ivan Slavich to find out the finer details of the bid.
Buckley confirmed it was likely to be the last meeting with the full bid team before the FFA makes its decision on the 12th A-League team in June.
As I was researching, I had the feeling that I would need to go to external websites, as the bid seems to be covered only by The Canberra Times. This makes it seem as if it is largely a local agenda, so I have decided to frame my questions around this when I begin drafting them. I will also have to be careful in picking my target audience, because soccer is not a huge sport in Canberra.
The A-League 4 Canberra site is a good one for general information. It can be found here.
The Football Federation of Australia is also an important site for research.
So that is all I have done so far. I will do my vox pop questions fairly soon, as I am worried about the timeliness of the questions I will ask. The Australia vs Kuwait game is gradually becoming a distant memory for Canberrans, so I feel as if I will have to get an epiroll out soon and try and get as many opinions as possible. This feels rushed, but I feel I will get the best reaction from people if the questions I ask are more current.
I plan to draft my questions soon and I will document this process later in the week.
Another interesting sidenote is, my friend offered to give me the phone number of an ex-soccer player who represented Australia, and is since heavily involved in the decision over A-League teams etc. I decided against it, mainly because this is a vox-pop assignment with ordinary voices. But it's interesting to note that contacts go a long way, especially in Canberra!
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