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Let's talk about "talk about"

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by boundforboston, Feb 4, 2014.

  1. "Talk about" ... grates on me as much as someone who ends the sentence with the word "...so."

    AAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!

    I always try for three questions: "What was the difference?"; "Give me a perspective on ...." ; "What did you learn about ...".
     
  2. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Not to get you more fired up than you seem to be, but you do realize you can still get a bs cliche answer for
    What was the difference?"; "Give me a perspective on ...." ; "What did you learn about ..."

    The difference was we stepped up when we had to.
     
  3. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Isn't "Give me a perspective on" pretty much the same thing as "Talk about"? A command rather than a question?

    I'm fine with "Talk about," as is evidenced by my responses on this thread (and the trillions of others on this subject). I can't for the life of me figure out why this is a big deal.

    Just pointing out a little inconsistency from a "talk about" hater.
     
  4. TyWebb

    TyWebb Well-Known Member

    I agree. "Give me a perspective" is "Talk about" dressed up.

    I've never liked "talk about," but I also don't think it is a big deal. This isn't going to be what kills sports journalism. I just find it kind of lazy.
     
  5. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Talk about isn't great.

    But, at times, you need discussion prompts. There's just no other way to say it.

    "Talk about that fourth down play" will sometimes get better answers than

    "Why did you go for it on 4th down and why didn't it work?"

    You can ask the second question - it's the better question, obviously - but, if the coach is a dick, maybe he gives a dick answer like "Because we thought we'd make it and we didn't" instead of actually explaining the thought process behind it and the failure of it.

    You can always ask "what was the thought process on fourth down?" but that also sounds kind of absurd after you ask that question enough times.

    Talk about is sometimes about accommodating the interviewee - inviting them to be expansive - than it is anything else. Not saying it's right and, in fact, I'd avoid it like the plague. But I knew why people did it.
     
  6. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

     
    YankeeFan likes this.
  7. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    What I wrote on the Twitter/car crash thread.

    "I'll push back on this: Enough with the "adults ask shitty questions, too." Of course they do. They're human. And though I hate "talk about" and avoided it like the plague in my day, I got why reporters did it: Coaches and players often suck as quotes when you ask them direct questions because they're tired, insecure, and often perceiving of motives.

    "Why did you decide to hold for the last-second 3 instead of getting quick 2?"

    is better than

    "Hey, coach, talk about that last possession and what went into it."

    but I've seen - too many times to count - the second question (which isn't even a question!) get a more complete response because it's not a question, but an invitation for the coach to share his perspective on the last possession without having to shoulder the actual responsibility the first question rightly applies.

    "Talk about" is perceived as lazy, and sometimes it is, and other times - and, again, I refused to do as a matter of principle - other times, it was just more efficient as a means to an end.

    And, yes, beat writing can and is sometimes getting the coach to tell you what the readers gotta know as a means to an end. Beat writers don't have 3 weeks. They have, sometimes, 13 minutes.

    One more thing: It's true that, sometimes, when an athlete or coach hears a question from the New York Times or some magazine reporter, boy, they light up and act like the clouds parted and man, what insight. And then everybody sits around and nods about how daring that all was, and What A Lesson To Learn for The Future.

    But rare is the coach or player who treats the person who comes around every day the same as the national reporter in for a couple days or a week. The beat writer is in a kind of marriage - you can't "define the relationship" at every week's presser without burning out the coach/players and, inevitably, yourself."
     
    Donny in his element likes this.
  8. cisforkoke

    cisforkoke Well-Known Member

    "Alex, just talk about your game?"
     
  9. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    You are absolutely right. Exhibit A: Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells (who I quite liked and got along with just fine). When coach of the Patriots, he'd ostentatiously give private interviews to the New York guys like Peter King and Gary Myers. When he became coach of the Jets for the first Pats game week he locked the New York guys out of an interview he gave to me and Mike Madden of the Globe, the two Boston guys.
     
  10. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    It's really simple, guys. No one outside the business gives the proverbial flying fuck about the question. It's all about the answer.
     
    Liut likes this.
  11. Kato

    Kato Well-Known Member

    Listen to an episode of Fresh Air. Terry Gross, who clearly does her homework and is a very good interviewer, uses "Talk about ..." all. the. time.

    I'm not saying that's bad or that's good. But so often sportswriters kill each other over using "Talk about ..." Sometimes it just comes out. I almost cringe every time I say it. But ... most of those times are during a 5-minute post-game presser after which I'll have 20 minutes to finish the gamer. Get some quotes, get some perspective, try to do better next time.
     
  12. cisforkoke

    cisforkoke Well-Known Member

    And be lazy this time.
     
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