Opposites Attract:
Never in my wildest did I think I’d make the pages of The Sun, one of England’s um… most prestigious scandal rags. Though I write about scandalous things, I’m not personally drawn to scandal. At least, I don’t think I am. The Sun is reserved for the dastardly deeds of our fellow citizens, you know, princes, princesses and scum. So, of course, they’re interested in one Robert C. Hansen. And even as I did the interview (via Zoom, no less), I knew how it would turn out.
Call it a blessing, then, that barely a week later another piece comes out, this by a very thoughtful podcaster named Jim Sulanowski. His series is called Murder Most Foul whose title, of course, has a Shakespearian ring. Hamlet, to be exact. Could I have plotted a better contrast? I think not. And yet…
Tale of the Tape
The Sun journalist was young, almost boyish. Because it was a Zoom call, I could see that he was in the very fancy digs of The Sun’s London offices. Lots of glass. People meandering in the background. But when we got to forty minutes, the Zoom call came to an abrupt halt. He was using the “free” version. There’s a time limit. He had to send another invite, just so we could finish the interview. Hmm. All that fancy glass and no Zoom budget? Really?
Sulanowski, on the other hand, was in his recording studio, e.g., his basement. Our first session went closer to three hours. A strain, perhaps, but I have to admit I’m a bit of a talker. And then we had a second session a few days later because, having done his homework, Jim thought it best to fill in some additional details. Yes!
Pros and Cons
At this point in my “broadcast” career — such as it is — I’ve done interviews with all manner of professionals. Broadcast television. Streamers. Podcasters. All of them were conscientious and are, for the most part, good at what they do. As should be expected, though, some are just plain better than others. I’ll leave it at that.
That said, one needs to look at the format — the publication’s zeitgeist, if you will — to catch the constraints any interviewer labors under. From that point of view, everything went as expected.
Copyright Leland E. Hale (2024). All rights reserved.
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