Take a look at this link about The case of Beckett Brennan at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/17/60minutes/main20054339.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1 and share your thoughts - how did she handle the interviews? What would you have done differently? Did she go too far or not far enough? Did she handle the material sensitively?
The interviews were handled very well. Katie remained sensitive throughout the interview with Beckett but not too sensitive so as to still ask the tough questions. I believe Katie remained objective in her questioning to Gomez, who runs the San Joaquin Women's Center in Stockton and also with Janine Simerly, an attorney representing the University of the Pacific. Gomez and Simerly obviously had differing views of what had happened that night. Krystina, the other student who had been allegedly raped, did fulfill my empty questions I had with Beckett. Krystina explained how she was yelling "no" and that the men were overpowering her. With Beckett, I wondered WHY she was stranded at the off-campus party in the first place and I guess just more details about the night. I realize these would be sensitive questions to ask but it seemed like Krystina had no problem revealing the details. Interesting tidbit about the man who was accepted to University of Idaho for basketball three months later.
ReplyDeleteWhat really stood out to me about the way Katie Couric handled this article - and, presumably, her interview - is the way she built up rapport with Beckett Brennan before moving on to the tough questions. Not only does she start by asking about Brennan's love of basketball rather than jumping right into the issue of the rape, she also stops to ask about her actual performance during games freshman year. She really made an effort to get to know Brennan on a personal level before expecting her to share her deepest secrets, and just as we discussed in class, I'm sure the commonality of their gender helped build this chemistry. You can really tell just how close they are in the second paragraph of page three, where Brennan comments on how uncomfortable she was with the board's questions, which insinuated that the rape was her fault. The implication is that Couric, in her interview, made no such insinuation – although this could be interpreted as “taking sides” with Brennan in a way. It’s important to build up rapport with your interviewee, but I feel like you have to be very careful about growing too close to him/her or taking everything he/she says as absolute truth—especially when dealing with an issue like this.
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