OPINION Saturday, November 15, 1980 The Michigan Daily t rv __.___....._ Hold the pancake! It's not professional Perhaps the Daily staff lives in an ivory tower. Perhaps we're too "pure" in our inter- pretation of journalism. Maybe all of the producers of print media whom I have encoun- tered-in contrast to their broadcast counter- parts-are too dogmatic in their approach toward ethics and reality in their work. Maybe everything I've learned about journalism has been too sheltered. If my first experience with a television news program is indicative of how the electronic media works, I want no part of it. About a month and a half ago I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the interviewees for '30 Minutes, CBS' teenage version of '60 Minutes." The show's staff was on campus talking with University sophomores to find out how their high schools prepared them for the rigors of college life . All humility aside, I was ecstatic at the thought of being on national television. THE PRELIMINARY interview with the producer went fairly well. She asked me questions and took notes in a reporter's notebook-it was nice being on the receiving end of an interview for a change. I made sure I talked a lot-after all, I figured, they don't dvant someone for a television show who sits and says nothing. It worked. She was pleased to find out that I was quite active in extra-curricular activities in high school. She was happy to find out that, in addition to writing for the-Daily, I'm in the marching band. She was thrilled to learn that at absolutely no point during my freshman year did I take a razor to my wrists. She decided to interview me-and film me working at the Daily and marching in a football game. After this, however, all similarities between news coverage as I know it and the TV crew's handling of the situation ceased to exist. IT WAS DECIDED that my interview would take place at the Student Publications Building. The first thing the cameraman did as he came in was rearrange the furniture. He pulled one desk out of an island of desks in the Daily's city room. ("Well," I thought, "he needs room for his .camera.") He then proceeded to put some paper in a typewriter (I wasn't working on a story that day) and scatter some textbooks on the desk. In my entirb tenure at the Daily, I have yet to see someone bring out a book and study it. In addition to that, he put a stack of newspapers on the desk. There's nothing abnormal about that in the city room, except for the fact that he covered a copy of the Daily with a Detroit Free Press because By Kevin Tottis he wanted "to add some color." In all fairness, this is understandable. They wanted to evoke an image of a busy college newsroom. But why, then, did they ask the editor-in-chief to turn off the wire service machines at one of the most important times of the day because they were "too noisy"? The actual interview began with Christopher Glenn, of "In the News" fame. The producer ran up and reminded him of his first question and we were off. Unfortunately, none of the questions asked even suggested spontaneity. WHENEVER I interview someone, I try not to assume a person's feelings. Almost every question asked of me was based on assumption. "You feel this way, right?" Glenn would ask. "Well, not exactly," I would answer. Then the theatrics began. "30 Minutes" isn't quite as well-funded as "60 Minutes;" they have only one camera. So, when they asked me questions, they filmed me. That part of the in- terview out of the way, it was time to film Glenn's reactions to my witty comments. As I sat and talked about the weather (with the microphone off), he sat andnodded and smiled andfrowned. Then it was my turn. Wow, would my Theatre 236 TA have been proud. I had plenty of emotion in my face as I nodded and listened to Glenn talk about the weather-my motivation was clearly understood as I walked to the wire machines and began to examine vital inches of UPI copy. If only I had had time for a proper warm-up, I'm sure it would have been an Em- my Award-winning performance. THE INTERVIEW was completed, I signed a release, they gave me five bucks and a ride home and said they would see me on Saturday at the game. Saturday morning they appeared at the band's 9 a.m. rehearsal. I had visions of them asking Eric Becher to stop the band in the mid- dle of the floating Block M so that I might step out so they could get a better shot of me. For- tunately nothing like that happened. However, as the band marched to the stadium a camera was stuck in my face. My fellow band members shouted to me as the filming took place, and I smiled-I often smile on the way to football games, it's fun. All of a sud- den the producer appeared in front of me jum- ping up and down and yelling "Don't smile! Don't smile!" For some reason this conjured up, visions of my high school director yelling "Don't break character!" when rehearsing for a play. THE BAND'S performance proved to be no problem, except for one small thing. Someone, forgot to mention to the camerman that in the game everyone in the band would be dressed alike. As I stood playing Hawaiian War Chant during pre-game, he furtively scanned the field looking for me. The look of relief on his face was truly rewarding when he finally found me. Maybe I wouldn't be so critical if they hadn't pretended to be such hard-core journalists. If this were a talk show, for instance, the theatrics would have been understandable. But they insisted they were journalists. As we were setting up for my interview, a co-worker yelled to me "Hey Kevin, would you like some pan- cake?" referring to theatrical make-up. The producer stood still a moment and looked aghast. When she managed to catch her breath, she countered "This is news! This is news? Boy, do I have a lot to learn. Daily staff writer Kevin Tottis is waiting for an offer of a guest spot on "Charlie's Angels." His "30 Minutes" debut can be seen on Channel .7 in Detroit on November 22. A 4 4 - --- -------- Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan RUSSIAN HANDSHAKE, LEONID l YouIL GET usEn o /7-f Vol. XCI, No. 63 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, M! 48109 4 -K . Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Helms leads the Senate backward on busing issue 1. "C , - V - . rr l f ,,.. K HOW QUICKLY they fall in line. The United States Senate, though it still has the same substantial ei.iocratic majority as it did before November 4, has begun to act very much like the frighteningly conser- vative Senate that will follow it. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, for instance, though he is far to the right of most of his current colleagues, won their ap- proval on a bill that would seem more appropriate to the incoming batch of reactionaries. On Thursday, the Senate voted 42-38 to prohibit the Justice Department to press for busing as a remedy for racial segregation in public schools. Helms phrased the usual conser- vative rhetoric in his 'customary ineloquent fashion, arguing that busing amounted to "torment" of "the little children of America." "The vast majority. of Americans, black and. white, are fed up to here" with busing, Helms continued. It's interesting that Helms and his ideological kinsmen choose to give heed to the supposed popular sen- timent on busing. For years, they have been ignoring popular support for abortion rights and national health care, on the grounds that their job is to make law on the basis of their own knowledge and reason, not in accor- dance with the latest figures from Gallup. They're correct on that point - and that's precisely why the anti- busing move is such a bad idea. Even if Helms were correct about the public's attitudes on busing (and the poll figures seem to fluctuate on that question), busing remains a necessary and just means of righting past wrongs. Unfortunately, the people who stand to benefit the most from busing are the poorest, most powerless victims of deficient educational systems. And they seem to have a hard time making themselves heard. It is certainly true that busing is a burden to some, and that traveling miles to school might seem an un- warranted intrusion of government in- to parental discretion. But blacks have suffered under the inadequate funding dealt to inner city schools long enough. If Helms' "popular" initiative passes, the inequity will continue indefinitely. . ' k r, gai t Ar 4n c'ry 4rlri. ._ .Q Y^ y G , ^ t rj,°" r: ^, i: }"° Vii' .a,.. try