vox populi (ˈpɒpjʊˌlaɪ)
- The voice of the people; popular or public opinion
My editor asked me to
do a Vox Pop during the lunch hour in Ipswich town centre, Suffolk, UK.
I didn't mind this of
course, as journalists are supposed to have the confidence to ask anyone
anything (within context).
I was asked to find 6
members of the public to gather their opinions on the new £3million design for
Ipswich Cornhill. Their have been a variety of responses on the re-design of
the town centre, luckily mine were fairly positive! I also had to make sure that
they were residents of the area first as we needed local responses.
The first challenge was
to gather the individual's attention. I knew this wouldn't be easy as I do feel
sorry for the charity organisations trying their best to gather money for the
charity. It's far more difficult to ask for money on the street so I had an
idea to start my vox pop by saying:
"Hi there I was just wondering if I could grab your opinion for your
chance to be in the paper? Don't worry I'm not asking for money, just a public
opinion..." I then shove the newspaper article in their face (not
literally) as well as the A4 sized re-design images given to me to show
them.
I felt that these people would compromise if they knew their opinion would
actually count! So I emphasised what paper I worked for and that their view
would appear within the article. This perked them up a bit and the phrase
'freedom of speech' came to mind. It was amusing asking them for their full
name, AGE and whereabouts they live (not their exact address). It seemed like
too much information to receive from them, but accuracy is key and it's just to
make sure we're not making the whole thing up!
The second challenge was
to try and take a photo of them. Some of them hesitated but were happy to have
a typical 'mug shot' taken. Some didn't want one because of the company they
worked for, which unfortunately meant that I couldn't use their opinion because
I didn't have all the accurate information. That was one of the setbacks as
they may have had really good views.
I was going to record
their opinions via the voice memo app on my iPhone 4S. However, this was a
silly idea as, even though my phone was at 60% battery, it died on me. How
pathetic is that - having apps on the iPhone when they can't even handle them.
However, that's a different matter I need to sort out. Next time a dictaphone
will probably help, but I need to find one where I can plug in headphones so I
don't annoy everyone else in the office. I need to research on a decent one. Any fellow journalists who could give me a heads up on good recording devices please comment below!
So, as an alternative,
I used the notepad to jot down their quotes. This was also a challenge as I
haven't fully learned how to do shorthand yet. I sound like a pretty useless journalist don't I! Blame my University for not
providing the courses that would actually be useful for the everyday
journalistic life! I'm ranting now, sorry. Back to the vox pop.
Even though it was during the Winter months, I enjoyed
getting out of the office to train myself to grab people's attention and gather
my own quotes. It felt good to cooperate and not just edit and re-write press
releases.
Note to self:
- Get a good dictaphone or just a decent, up to
date recording device as my iPhone is clearly unreliable.
- Continue to learn shorthand
- Appearance must be professional during vox
pops to make you look more legit
- Have a camera on show or tell them you will be
using not YOUR mobile phone but A mobile
phone to take a clear photo. (preferably an Iphone with a good camera)
- Make sure the people you gather quotes from are a
variety of ethnics/gender/age. It wouldn't look good if you only gathered
quotes from 25 year old women.
Click on this link for more how-to
information:
