Press for POWER
Anytime I have ever put my head above the press parapet I have always been amazed at the ability for a fairly straightforward story to be misinterpreted, sometimes by the journalist, sometimes by the reader and sometimes by both.
I contacted the Hartlepool mail to tell them about my project and to see if they might be interested in doing a little piece – in particular asking the local readers if they had any memories they might like to share of the Rink ballroom and perhaps some memorabilia stashed away in the attic that they might like to share. Well the reporter at the Mail was very good – she got straight on board and suggested they might be able to do a double page spread. I also mentioned my father – in that he had a photo, taken during WW2, showing himself and a group of youths of a similar age (15ish). They were the civil defence squad. Boys on bikes who scurried across Hartlepool before, during and after bomb raids carrying messages when communications were down. He is interested to see if anyone is still around from that time and maybe establish contact. This dovetails into my project, as the recounting of his time in Hartlepool forms an entry point into an aspect of my work. The Mail was once again very obliging and ran another article a few days later around his appeal, with a mention of my project at the end… so all good on the general ‘getting it out there’ front.
Within a couple of hours of publication I received an email. Great I thought – this bodes well. Said person however was more intent on telling me that there were “quite a few confused and slightly disgruntled people” in the locale who wondered why I had been given this ‘gig’ (as he put it) being that it had local historic content and that (he noted) my only connection to the place happened to be that my father and his family come from Hartlepool! I have to admit to slight bemusement at this point as surely, even from his inward looking perspective, having half of one’s family coming from that very same town should qualify a person for a little local connection credibility. Ah well.
I took a deep breath and resolved not to reply the same day in order to regain my inclusive perspective. He is entitled to his view.
The following day I replied and thanked him for his interest and pointed out that in fact no one had given me this commission. I felt I should explain the distinction between how an artist (such as myself) typically works – i.e. following their own practice and developing themes as they form out of the work.. as opposed to the way a commercial documentary might be made, with more obvious agendas and a line of authority to accede to. I’m making my own work – I make it for myself primarily and hope that by doing that other people are able to experience something of a more ‘pure’ form. I didn’t quite say that to him, as I fear it may have gone over his head, but I was as warm and cuddly as possible and invited him to participate in the project if he felt inclined. Needless to say I never heard back.
He was, thankfully the only one who read the article the wrong way – though it has to be said local newspapers are typically interested in the human angle, sometimes at the expense of the facts or real detail.
Having said that – I do appreciate the way it has allowed me to connect into the local readership – and there is a lot to be said for that. A surprising amount of people seem to cut things out and send them on!
