It’s much harder to come up with challenging questions for politicians whose views you agree with. But that’s what I did this week.
My local MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, was in Cirencester on Friday night debating the European Union with one of my local MEPs (and former Cotswold District Councillor), Julie Girling.
Before recording the interview I sat and watched the debate; I love listening to political debates like this! There were lots of interesting points raised during the debate – on things such as immigration, what Europe might think of the referendum in Scotland, UKIP MEPs, the cost of being in the EU, what relationship Britain would have with the EU from outside it.
It’s all ammunition to use next time my housemates and coursemates quiz me on my views on Europe: They do that quite often – and some of the political discussions we have at uni can be quite lively. Who says students aren’t interested in politics! The ones I know are – mainly because I won’t shut up about it! I’d like to think that I am slowly bringing some of them round to the idea that Europe isn’t as good as they think it is!
The interview I recorded afterwards will be used alongside the one I did with the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham – Martin Horwood – as part of my Indepdendent Production Project for uni… and I’ll also be using both interviews on Tone and Corinium at some point in the future.
I hinted not long ago that I should “make a career” out of political journalism/interviewing… The more I think about it, the more I’m beginning to think that might not be a bad idea.
The fact that I managed to get interviews with two Gloucestershire MPs despite the fact that I’m very low down in the “media hierachy” (for want of a better phrase), I thought was quite impressive – and even more so when another radio student complained that he hadn’t recieved a reply from the MP he tried to contact them to interview them about a completely different subject.
Alternatively… Maybe I shouldn’t be looking to work in jounalism. 10 years ago, I e-mailed Sir Terry’s Radio 2 show. After my primary school head teacher heard it and e-mailed the following day, Wogan said on air that by the time I reach 50, “I will probably have been Prime Minister several times over”. I am determined to prove him right.
For now… I’m off to listen back to my political interviews, then start working on turning them in to a single feature on Europe and start scripting what I’m going to say to link everything together.
Bye for now.
FH.
