One of the more interesting aspects of journalism is that I must talk to multiple people for every story I must write. Occasionally, I can gather all the information I need over the phone. Most of the time, though, I must actually meet and talk with people face to face.
Some stories only require me to talk with two or three people, and some require me to talk to more than five. As such, I generally introduce myself to at least four people every day while working. Since I have done quite a few "human interest" stories, I believe I can accurately say most of these people have never spoken with a reporter before. That fact, along with my long hair in this conservative area, helps many of them remember who I am. I doubt they remember my name for very long, but they definitely remember I am a reporter.
I, on the other hand, have a rather difficult time remembering who they are unless they were the main subject of the story itself. Covering one story today, I saw at least four people I knew I had met previously through other stories. I only knew the name of one of them. I struggled to remember at the very least what story I was working on when I met the others, and I think I know what I was doing when I talked with one.
I mentioned this to one of the other reporters. He laughed, and he told me I should "get used to it." He said it is even stranger when you meet them outside of a professional context. He had a man walk up to him while he was eating out the other day. The guy asked him if he had written any big stories lately. They spoke briefly, and he spent the entire meal trying to remember who that man was. He finally remembered as he finished eating, and he spoke with the man again before leaving.
Other reporters in the office have joked about names during work. When one reporter told me that I "look like a Steve," a few of them began to laugh. Seeing my slightly confused facial expression, he explained that we work with so many names they totally run together.
It's kind of tragic, really. I'm bad enough about forgetting names as it is.
Posted by Randy at June 7, 2006 10:26 PM | TrackBack