Multi-Use

This is a piece that I worked on for my class on electronic news gathering. Initially I did not think it might relate to multi-ethnic reporting. However, as my classmates provided feedback during a class playback I realized that many of the tools used to gather this story are part of this course's belt.

The issue is a delicate one. In order to get the footage of the people smoking marijuana I first had to earn their trust. I called way in advance I clearly stated my intentions, "I just want to pick your brain about Florida laws on marijuana" was the line I used for almost everyone.

Before I forget I asked someone I knew and that trusted me to introduce me to this group of people since I had never seen them before.

The resistance was strong. "Don't film, just record sound" said Paola and her friends as I asked to go with them to talk during one of the 'smoking sessions'. So I resorted to my class training. I talked it out with them for a long 45 min. Kept the camera in the car and explained that I didn't planned to judge them, that my questions were based on pure curiosity and somewhat ignorance about why anyone would smoke pot.

I explained that I know that this issue is complex and that I wasn't about to understand it in one day but that I wanted their help in getting a clearer picture. I made sure my body language seemed sure but not fake.

When I worked on the story I tried to show all sides of the story and not just make it seem like there was a clear opinion on my part about whether or not weed should be legalized or not. I just reported on what was there and didn't tap into my stereotypes about potheads.

(Disclosure: I had a close family member that smoked pot and it messed up his life for a while. So I don't take this issue lightly)

By the end they didn't mind that I film just as long as I blurred their faces. They talked openly and even let me go with them to buy the pot. One of the girls even said she would gladly give me a sound-byte without the blurred face.

Should reporters always be conscious of race?

The first idea that comes to anyone’s mind when they think of a good journalist is their ability to inform the public in a balanced way without exposing his or her opinions. So, can the ideal journalist exist when it comes to race? I think that it cannot be denied that race plays a very important role on people’s lives in this country. 


In general people that are considered a minority find it easier to relate to those in their same 'race' when it comes to understanding their points of view or being sympathetic with their struggles. 


With journalism I think race is a difficult matter to avoid, sometimes we feel uncomfortable asking questions that would expose us as racist, other times when you are a reporter who is part of a minority (like me) people fear that they might hurt me by answering a question.

The thing that bothers me the most about the issue of reporting and race is the fact that it doesn’t become a “race thing” unless it is done by a minority. For example, the issue of school shootings and violence in schools has been a hot topic on the news for the past years, but I have seen that when reporting most of these mishaps the race issue is of race is not even mentioned unless it was a black thing, a Hispanic thing or any other minorities.

It is important to break the barriers of race in this country especially when it comes to news reporting. We can’t have Caucasians covering white stories, African-Americans covering their stories, Hispanics theirs and so on. We have to get passed that an be able to ask the uncomfortable questions. It is not a problem only this society has, in other countries the issue might be religion and not race or class system and not race. The important thing is that we have come a long way but still have to do a lot more, and it starts with having an open mind when we go out there especially as reporters.