Mike is in control: The interview and the resulting news story, II

When the principal asks Mike to speak to the reporter, Mike first asks the principal for any additional info the principal thinks the reporter may ask for - such as how common this type of incident is at Lealock, and what is being done about it.

Before meeting the reporter, Mike takes five minutes to clarify the key points he wants to make during his interview:

• Violent incidents, such as the one that happened yesterday, are very rare at our school. According to our principal, Dr. Kang, this is the first time one of our students has ever been attacked with a weapon on school grounds.
  
  
• Our student council has begun to work with the administration to hold counselling sessions for the students who witnessed the incident, and conflict resolution workshops to help students to deal with violence.
  
  
• We don't know what motivated the attack. The attack is still under investigation by the school.

Mike also thinks about what questions the reporter may ask, and what answers he may give. When he meets the reporter that afternoon, Mike tries to keep his main message - that the school is not a dangerous place - firmly in mind.

Reporter: School violence seems to be increasing in our community, wouldn't you agree?
Mike: I'm not so sure. I'm probably not the best person to answer that question.

Reporter: But wouldn't you agree that school violence is indeed on the increase at your own school?
Mike: Our school hasn't seen a lot of violence, actually. This is the first time a student has ever been attacked with a weapon on school grounds.

Reporter: What's the mood like around here? Were you afraid to come to school today?
Mike: Both our student council and the administration have been working closely since yesterday afternoon. We've organized counselling sessions for students who witnessed the incident. We're also organizing a couple of conflict resolution workshops on violence for all students.

Reporter: Are the workshops and counseling sessions common practice at your school?
Mike: We just want to make sure that everyone is alright, and that this type of thing doesn't happen again. Violent incidents at our school are very rare, and we want to keep it that way.

Reporter: A couple of people have told me that this incident was racially motivated.  What's the consensus?
Mike: The school is still investigating the matter, and right now no one is really sure why it happened.

Reporter: Thanks for your time.

As you can see from this interview, Mike managed to weave all his main points into the four answers he gave. When the reporter tried to get Mike to agree that youth violence was on the rise in his school and in the community, Mike refused to speculate on youth violence in general but he communicated that this kind of incident was rare in his school. When asked "Were you afraid to come to school today?" he talked about the positive steps the school and students were taking in response to the incidence. When asked if the incident was racially motivated, Mike reinforced his main message that no one knew the motivation behind the incident, and he offered information instead of speculation.

Here's how the reporter treated Mike's interview: