The fame game

>> NDP hopeful encounters the media! Part III of Mirror contributor Noemi Lopinto's campaign diary

By NOEMI LOPINTO

This week I got my first inkling of what Andy Warhol referred to as the "15 minutes of fame." Monday began with two interviews for the print media, Tuesday I spoke on radio and on Wednesday I was on television, specifically the Citymag show on Vidéotron's cable channel 9.

First of all, for those of you who spend your lives envious of the hosts on entertainment television, you may rest assured that it looks like a pretty stupid job. The atmosphere is like a rubber room in an institution for the criminally insane. There was a "cozy corner" with fuzzy blue and yellow chairs intended for more intimate interviews, a "serious" table made of wood for hard-hitting news, and egg-shaped white plastic stools for intros and chatting up the camera.

The two hosts spend their days in pancake makeup switching chairs and looking perky for their own personal audience of about six technicians holding cameras. The backdrops are fake: fake flowers, cityscapes, mountain ranges. In fact, the whole thing could easily be a delusion brought on by taking 'shrooms. Travis Todd (was he named after a character in a Harlequin Romance novel?) called me on Wednesday morning to ask me if I would be willing to participate in a panel of two--an Alliance member and myself--to discuss whether the media had ruined politics. I had to be there in three hours.

Obviously, someone had stood them up. "That's a very astute question," said Travis. It was the Liberal candidate. In retrospect, I think it is fairly clear he/she knew something I didn't.

I want it to be clear that I studied. I wrote cue cards for myself. I prepared my speech about how the two-minute sound bite makes it impossible to really discuss serious issues. I even took gingko biloba, twice. When I arrived at Vidéotron I was ushered into the pre-interview room where I was able to watch the Citymag interviews prior to my own. There was a chat with a pair of singing identical twins (Trish and Tony) in the fuzzy chairs. There was an in-depth look at girl breakdancers, an interview with the star of the latest production of The Phantom of the Opera, and then the Alliance guy and me in the hard chairs.

Travis looked everything like a host on an entertainment show should: black plastic pants, tight cotton T-shirt and a ready smile. I had already been forewarned that the discussion time would be short. But the actual content of the conversation went something like this:

Travis Todd: So, the topic is viciousness in politics--the debates seemed really nasty. Do you think politics have degraded into mudslinging?

Me: Well, I think that this is a crucial time, because all the parties' reputations are at stake, but--

TT: Thats great! But you know, the media must have a role in this. Do you think they trivialize the issues?

Me: Well, I think the media has a need to keep your attention, but the real issue is...

TT: Interesting! Well, that was Noemi Lopinto, candidate in the Rosemont/Petite-Patrie riding.

The whole interview from beginning to end was six minutes. I am officially on record as a pundit. The twins, by the way, got 20 minutes.

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