Problems with an Angry Single Mother

Sometimes journalists deal with some of the most difficult interview subjects known to man. In this case, my partner and I had to deal with an angry single mother who didn't want us to publish any footage of her.

The first parts of our interview were just innocent questions about her thoughts on the CARE program. My partner and I were just asking about her great experience with the CARE program. She kept saying that it helped her with a crisis.

Since this description was really vague, I couldn't help but pry into her personal experience. I asked her what kind of crisis she went through. She answered that the CARE program gave her medical aid for the cancer she had. It also helped her get through her divorce.

To tell the truth, her comments made her experience much more realistic. I honestly didn't think that I asked anything that was especially threatening. I didn't even ask her to describe the experience in further detail.

One week later, the mother called the El Camino College Union office. She asked us to remove all our pictures and recordings of her from our story. I was pretty shocked, because many of our pictures of the office featured her at the front desk of the CARE center.

I called the mother immediately and asked her why she wanted to take our photos out. She didn't elaborate on anything, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish photos of her.

I e-mailed my professor, Lori Medigovich, to let her know what the angry mother was telling us. Medigovich said that since the mother agreed for us to interview her, we couldn't remove our photos and recordings. I reluctantly called the mother to let her know what my professor said, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish our photos and recordings of her. She even insisted that she would sic her legal team to sue us.

Looking back on this entire experience, this entire squabble all started with a seemingly innocent question that I asked. I don't think it hurts to at least inquire about the experiences these mothers go through. I mean, the public doesn't always hear about these first-hand narratives from struggling single mothers.

Maybe I could have prevented this entire mess. Maybe I could have kept my mouth shut. However, I just can't help but peek into people's business. After all, people wouldn't understand these people if they only spoke vaguely about their problems and difficulties.

So I don't regret asking her the question. To tell the truth, these interview subjects shouldn't even agree to talk about these touchy parts of their lives. If they don't want to talk about their problems, then they shouldn't even speak at all. Nothing will hurt them if they just refuse to speak about these things.

However, if I'd known that she would raise a fit over what we were working on, I probably wouldn't have asked the question. Journalists experience enough stress while they're working on their stories. And personally, I would appreciate my job a lot more if I wasn't treated like evil paparazzi. I didn't come into this field to purposefully ruin anyone's life.

Yet, as long as the tabloids are pissing off celebrities with exploitative stories, journalists will always go under fire. No matter what I do, somebody will always hate me.

Such is the life of a journalist. Sigh...