We call it “sound”—- someone willing to do an on-camera interview.
Sometimes sound is hard to come by in small towns like Stuart, which is where I was today.
I haven’t been there in at least two years.
It’s a beautiful town and the people are great.
But covering a story about a town doctor accused of taking indecent liberties with a teenage girl, I tempered my expectations of what kind of “sound” I would get.
People in small towns have strong opinions but they often aren’t that interested in getting up on a pedestal and telling people about it.
Folks were very nice and cordial to me when I asked for on-camera reactions to the story (some were patients at the doctor’s office), but nobody wanted to be interviewed “for the record” (meaning nobody wanted me to roll tape).
It didn’t hurt my story.
And I completely understand why they didn’t want to talk on camera.
Old sayings like “in a small town—- everybody knows everybody” have stuck around so long because they’re so true.
Small towns are not used to the media from bigger cities coming around.
As I always tell people, you don’t want to see too much of me in your town or neighborhood, because I’m usually there to cover something controversial.
Posted by Scott Leamon at 07:14 PM. Filed under: leamon •
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