Scenario 6: The Importance of Note-taking
You are a reporter for the leading newspaper of a mid-sized town. You are writing an article about a new after-school program for at-risk kids. An exuberant, vocal community activist who is very wealthy and often rude to the local media has started the program. The activist is very busy and it took many calls for you to even get an interview scheduled. Given just a short period of time scheduled for your meeting, you interview him hurriedly while he gives you a walking tour of the facility that will be used for the new program that opens tomorrow. You are taking notes as you walk and not using a tape-recorder. You part ways; he has many things still to do to prepare for opening day and you have to write your article for your deadline tonight. Later, when you are writing the article in the newsroom, you discover that you didn't accurately capture the best quote from him in your notes. You think you remember it pretty well and you think you remember the gist of his point. You want to use it somehow because it makes a significant point, but you know this activist's reputation for picking fights -- notably with members of the media. It's 10 p.m. and your deadline is in one hour.