What to Do When an Interview Is Squashed and You Still Need a Story

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Craig_Greenlee]Craig Greenlee
What do you do when a hard-to-get interview is cancelled and you're still expected to produce a story anyway? Having a panic attack wouldn't be all that unusual. But you still have to recover, and there's still a story that has to be written.
That was the situation for me several years ago when I was sports editor of UPSCALE Magazine. My Monday interview with basketball superstar Michael Jordan was called off at the last moment. The reason for Jordan being a no-show was understandable. Two days before our scheduled interview, MJ's father - James Jordan - was the victim of a road-side murder in North Carolina.
When the news broke, I knew immediately that the interview would not be rescheduled. It would be way past my deadline by the time Jordan would be available again.
At that point, I had a lot more questions than answers. Even though the interview was nixed, the story was still slotted for the magazine's front cover. I was in scramble mode.
Now I needed to do some extensive background research and figure out a way to be inventive in my approach. This was a little more labor intensive back in the early '90s than it is now. So, I launched my assault on the library stacks, sifting and sorting through mounds of magazines and newspapers.
What kind of information was I after? I looked for details in previously published stories that I could expand on. Since I didn't have Jordan to talk to, why not talk to others who are around him? Those "others" I'm referring to includes teammates, trainers, equipment managers, and even sports writers. They're not difficult to deal with, and in most cases, they're fairly accessible.
True enough, relying on these sources is not the same as speaking to the man himself. But keep in mind that they are viable in that they can readily supply useful tidbits that can help you write a compelling story.
That's why I talked to Mark Vancil, a veteran sports writer, who covered the Bulls during the Jordan era. Vancil collaborated with MJ on the autobiography Rare Air: Michael on Michael. During the course of our conversation, Vancil gave me a glimpse of the basketball megastar that few people ever see. This sequence was a good fit for UPSCALE's 1994 cover story that entitled "Flight 23 Has Landed."
One afternoon, the gym floor at the Bulls practice facility was empty except for three people - Michael Jordan and his two sons. Father and sons wrestle each other and eventually the two tykes stop wrestling and race against each other to retrieve the nearest basketball. Then they run back to MJ and make their requests. "Lift me up Daddy, I want to dunk it," the boys said.
I appreciated Vancil's input, but felt like there was still a missing element to this story. It needed to be something personal that would help me to convey Jordan's passion for a game that made him a multi-millionaire.
That's when I thought about an unexpected personal experience I had in watching Jordan play. For me, there's one sequence that really stands out. Below is an excerpt from the magazine's cover piece. The photographer mentioned in this narrative is yours truly:
After finishing off one of his outrageous dunks, Jordan's momentum causes him to collide with one of the court-side photographers. Jordan apologizes for the unscheduled landing, rubs the photographer's head like a crystal ball, gives a familiar wink, then struts back to play defense at the other end of the floor. It's clear for all to see that Jordan loves this game.
I would have felt a lot better about the Jordan story if it had included our interview. But I had no control over that. By digging for details and cultivating secondary sources of information, I was able to make the best of a less than desirable situation. In a perfect world, the story wasn't what I originally envisioned. But with some thoughtful planning, I was able to give readers a deeper sense of what it was that made Michael Jordan tick.
Craig T. Greenlee is a seasoned sports writer/editor/photographer who earned B.A. and M.A degrees in journalism from Marshall University. Magazines/journals: sports editor, UPSCALE Magazine; former correspondent, Black Issues In Higher Education. Newspapers: sports editor, Winston-Salem Chronicle (NC). Started out as copy editor/layout artist with News & Record sports (NC). Joined writing staff later on (primary beats: community/college sports, arena football).
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?What-to-Do-When-an-Interview-Is-Squashed-and-You-Still-Need-a-Story&id=6659773] What to Do When an Interview Is Squashed and You Still Need a Story