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Man on the Street — good idea?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by BertoltBrecht, Feb 20, 2008.

  1. Oggiedoggie

    Oggiedoggie Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    From: http://www.freegoingphoto.com/pages/42months.html
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  2. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    I think we need to call it something catchier than "Man on the Street." How about, "Ask A Douchebag?"
     
  3. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    We kicked that around a lot. Never came up with Ask A Douchebag. That might have been the winner.

    The ChotchBag on the Corner did get some thought.
    Assholes Like You Speak Out.
    Illiterates Corner.

    We could go on and on.


    We had the diversity requirement (amongst the respondents, not in the quotes). Made doing them at NASCAR races tough.
     
  4. Cape_Fear

    Cape_Fear Active Member

    My place did one of these for today's paper. Sent somebody to the town of Cuba for reaction on Castro. (No word on why they bypassed the nearby town of Havana.)

    Two of the five people that ran were the high school football coach and an all-area football player. Like they haven't been in the paper enough.
     
  5. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    From reading these so often in my local paper, I'm not a fan anymore. They just don't work with as many stories as editors think. Like when one item asked people about a mass murder of an innocent family. All the panelists were shocked and disturbed, with not one person approving of the murder!

    Waste of trees.
     
  6. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    Re: Man on the Street — good idea?

    And you'll be amazed at just how ignorant your readers really are. You want five answers? You're gonna be asking 20 people, because 15 of them won't have any idea what you're talking about. Well, unless you ask them something about Britney.

    I wouldn't do it. Hate those damn things. Hate 'em.

    How about actually getting opinions from Average Joe into your regular stories, rather than running a bunch of stories about what government officials say, then relegating ole' Average Joe to the "Man on the Street" section.
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Or you could write a 20-inch story that fully captures the issue, instead of an abridged 10 inches that leaves room for the Man on the Street. Except that nobody reads 20-inch stories anymore because everyone's go-go-go busy in this wild and wacky digital age.
     
  8. John

    John Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    That's super.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  10. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    Reporter: Do you think council should approve the new ball park and use taxes to fund the project?

    Man on Street: Hell no! I pay too many taxes now! No way do I want to pay for some community sports team's new house! That's bullshit. Did you know I never had my street plowed once this past winter? And my property tax went up too. I think the mayor got into office thanks to a fixed election. But don't put any of this in the paper - or I'll sue you.
     
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