What Not To Say
I hope you saw last night’s story. If not, the powers that are and the powers that be on Granville Island were upset that we were doing a story without their permission or their knowledge.
The fact that I have done 100 stories there without their okay had nothing to do with it. All the stories were positive. What else would I do? I like life. I like Granville Island.
But yesterday a woman walked up the camera, said she was from the administration office and told us to turn off the camera.
We did not have their approval to take pictures.
We were outdoors doing a story about a woman feeding seagulls. According to her we needed permission to do that. And that is because the whole island is federal land and as you should know you cannot take pictures of someone feeding birds on federal land without permission.
Then she insisted again that we turn off the camera.
We always ask anyone who we would like to photograph and talk to if we may do that before we turn on the camera. But if someone walks up to us and starts talking to us that does not give us much time to ask if we may talk to him or her. Obviously they want to talk to us, or else why would they be talking.
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But they do not want to be on record wanting to talk which makes it difficult to talk.
Then she went away to call Security because we said we would happily listen to her but we would like to record it in case we forgot what she said. She said NO CAMERA.
We wondered if it was a secret she wanted to tell us, but that could not be because we did not know her and there were other people around who could hear it.
This would be like you wanting to tell someone something but telling them to cover their ears and not to remember what you said.
She came back with the director of communications for the island who wanted to know what the story we were doing was about. Since we had now spoken to two officials who were being paid by your taxes who had taken time out to tell us we could not do something that would seem to one and all tax payers to be something that should not be a matter of official concern we told him….SEAGULLS, eating.
He considered that for a moment and gave his approval. We did not tell him that the official interest was now harder to swallow than the chick wings that the seagulls were eating, and hence much more interesting.
A note to all officials. If you want to say something to someone who has a camera, SAY IT. d up to us, said she was from the office of the administrator of the island and told us to turn off the camera.
Silly. We never interview anyone without asking them first, but if someone comes to us and starts talking we don’t feel we have to ask if we can talk. That may not make sense, but you get the picture.
I just want to give a suggestion to every official and every representative of anyone that if a camera is pointed at you in a public place don’t say turn it off.
Say what you have to say. Be honest. If what you have to say is rude or illegal or immoral don’t say it. Otherwise there should be no problem in it being recorded.
Plus you will get your point across, and that is the point of what you are doing.
Can you imagine saying to someone I want to talk to you, but don’t listen.
Sorry I ahve said so much, but I sure wish officials would learn common sense.
If it cannot be recorded, do not say it.
Can you imagine how many of the Hockey Rioters are now saying to themselves, I wish I had not said and done that in front of a camera. Maybe I should not have done that at all.
There’s a thought.
Whether you are a rioter or an official, simply, do not do what is dumb.
Mike
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