Chimps on Stage

We sometimes get calls from local TV stations (or other media/organizations) to provide expert commentary/presentations, usually with very little preparation time, sometimes just minutes.  We generally don't like to do these interviews because as academics (a relative term), we like to be well prepared, we want to communicate information of value, and to be honest, a lot of us don't love cameras, and cameras don't love a lot of us. Also, our vocation demands specialization for professional survival, so while the general population assumes that if you have a doctorate in a field that you are an expert in all things related to that field, the truth is that at best we know a lot about a little, and a little about a lot.  And rarely is anyone interested in the little about which we know something.

So our Communications Director gives me a call to see if I can find an economist.  As usual, there aren't any to be found, and they hate doing this stuff anyway.  I don't like doing it either, but sometimes you have to hold your nose and do what's good for the school.  This was one of those times, and as the topic wasn't a particularly difficult one for me, I could pretend to be an economist for a little while if I had to be.

I literally had 6 minutes to prepare before meeting with the reporter and cameraman, but I managed to dig up some pretty interesting stats and excellent explanatory information, which I was able to communicate reasonable effectively in the 5 minute interview.  I know they're just going to take a cut or two for the story, and just hope they'll use some of the good stuff.  The report was on three or four of their newscasts, but I didn't catch any of them, so I looked up the report online.  Sure enough, they chose the most simple-minded, vanilla pap that was introductory to the interesting and informative material. I understand the media's point of view, keep it simple, keep it fast, but I really think they underestimate and shortchange the audience, and we're often embarrassed but our simean-like portrayals as "experts."  A baboon could do what they're looking for.  So if the call comes in shortly for an expert analysis of retail sales for the holidays, I'm not going to be the guy that says, "The malls are really crowded as people look for last-minute bargains."