Ellen Smith for Oak Ridge - Discussion Archive

[Ellen]

There's another candidate comparison on the horizon. The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has arranged with BBB Communications to produce a program of structured interviews with City Council candidates, to be broadcast on local-access cable TV channel 12 several times before June 7.

Candidate interviews will be conducted individually, captured on tape, and edited into a one-hour show for later broadcast.

According to letters from the Chamber:

1. All candidates will be asked: “Why are you running for Oak Ridge City Council?” and will be given 1 minute to answer this question.

2. Each candidate will draw 2 questions from a list of 5 that have been developed by the Chamber's Local Political Action Task Force. Each candidate will have 2 minutes to answer each question. "We will not share these questions with you in advance. Because the Chamber's mission is focused on the enhancement of the community's economy, you can anticipate that the questions will cover issues of likely interest to the business community."

3. All candidates will be asked one question unanimously agreed upon by the members of our task force, and will have two minutes to answer.

4. All candidates will be asked a question that has been developed by Channel 12. This question will be the same for all candidates. There will be one minute to answer this question.

5. Each candidate will be allowed one minute to make a statement on a topic of his her choice. "You may elaborate on a previously asked question or bring up another topic of your own choosing."

My interview will be Tuesday afternoon. Should be interesting...

[Ellen]

BBB Communications has finished taping candidate interviews and has assembled them into a program for broadcast. I don't know the program duration, but they were planning for it to be a full hour.

The program is scheduled to air eight times on cable Channel 12 before the June 7th election:
* Thursday, May 26 at 6:00pm;
* Friday, May 27 at 7:00pm;
* Saturday, May 28 at 4:00pm;
* Monday, May 30 at 6:00pm;
* Tuesday, May 31 at 8:30pm;
* Thursday, June 2 at 6:00pm; and
* Friday, June 3 at 7:00pm
It may also be shown at other times during the day.

If my interview was typical, I expect that the program focus could be described as "candidates' perspectives on local business development."

If you watch, please post your comments about the program.