My adventures making the transition from sports to morning news continues.


Getting people to talk. That's what we do as reporters and anchors. We get people to share their feelings and emotions on camera. For years, it's been relatively easy to do that because in sports everyone wants to talk -- even if they start by saying "No comment". Players and coaches have rarely bee shy in talking about the games they play. I think it's just because that is part of the sports world -- reflecting on the game just played and sharing your feelings. Even when players often do not want to talk, I have been able to build relationships allowing me to get them to speak with me candidly -- and openly.

But the news side is a different animal. People - at least so far - have been shy and reticent to speak with me unless they are hawking some service or pushing some agenda. I'll give you an example. Recently, I was doing a story and just needed a couple of reactions from people walking down the street. The first five people I spoke with passed on the opportunity. No excuses were given, they just said no. Those that followed offered excuses from "I'm too shy" to "I don't want to be on TV". When I finally got two people to go on camera to offer their opinions - they weren't even Pittsburghers. They were transplanted North Carolinians! Oh, by the way, the question that caused so much consternation: Do you think Pittsburgh is an angry town?

Now these are not famous athletes turning me down or high-placed public officials giving me the "Heisman". These are every day people choosing not to present their opinions to a forum of 300,000 possible viewers. I'm sure there are some good reasons and there are a few people who are probably shy about speaking up, but I think this avoidance of the cameras speaks to a much larger issue: the public feeling about the media.

Years ago, being on TV was a cool thing and it seemed as long as you had a microphone in your hand, people wanted to speak with you. Now, people I believe have a total distrust of the news media for whatever reason and fearful we may spin their words, they choose not to speak. There is also the sense that we have a rather unengaged public. Voter apathy is at an all-time high and people would rather not be involved in the process and that process includes speaking and offering opinion on the public airwaves. Airwaves that we may manage but you own as a citizen.

Then again, maybe I'm making too much of this. Maybe I just have to give people more reason to talk to me.

PS: The new "Madden 2007" video football game comes out today and I intend to finish up work and rush home and get my copy, pop it into my PlayStation2 and dive into an afternoon long football fantasy. I may be 38, but I act like a kid when it comes to video games.