Gonzo Journalism: Video Blog

Last day of work experience and was told that I would be heading to Wimborne in East Dorset. So left Daily Echo office and continued walking to the car with fellow employee with camera and notepad in hand. We got into the car and drove from Bournemouth all the way to Wimborne using the satnav to guide the way. After about 30 minutes in the car we finally arrived at the house of East Dorset MP Nick King. We parked in his driveway and knocked on his door where we were greeted by his mother. She said we could park there until her husband came back from work. We walked into Wimborne and interviewed people on the street about what their opinion on the general debate between Clegg, Brown and Cameron. Most people were not willing to give much away instead telling us that that ‘Car park ticket expiring’ or ‘need to catch a bus’. We got some people to open up about their opinion which came mainly in the form of older generation with few younger people having an opinion at all. We finished up talking to people on the street. Many people had decided that they would be voting for Liberal Democrat to stay in power. East Dorset was the only area in the south to have Lib Dem council leader. This meant that straight away it was going to be tough job for Nick King to overcome this type of pressure.

After lunch walked back to Nick King house. It was easy to find this house as the fences were covered in posters saying ‘Vote for Nick King as your conservative MP, You deserve a change’. The posters were covering the fences of his house and being that it was a corner house on busy road there’s no doubt that people driving past or walking would take notice. Finally arrived at the house again and was let in by his mother who was awaiting us with coffee. We entered the house which felt much more like a mini factory. Two dogs were running around with their tongues out hoping that we were there to feed them. We sadly were not there for that. We met around ten members of family or employees, it was hard to take in everyone name. We drank coffee and ate some freshly made cookies which made the dogs get very excited when a single crumb fell to the floor. Nick King brother was there to be friendly trying to promote his own business which is a cabaret club in Bournemouth town, an area I tend to avoid if I can. When looking around the house it had hardly any room to sit around. Every inch apart from kitchen surfaces were covered in boxes of leaflets with vote for Nick King on the front. The only noise that was constant was the sound of the printers on overload as more and more constantly pumped out. Luckily were enough people to sort them out otherwise that would be very chaotic.

After waiting for around thirty minutes talking to his mother, sister and brother, Nick King came slyly through the back door nearly hitting me with the door. He was pleasant man balding hair and short as he greeted the two of us. He joked about being on time something he states was not his best quality. He decided that it would be best to enjoy the sun so we went outside and set up camera equipment. We talked bit bout what he was up to and he said he had come back from meeting which involved all the local MP’s in the area. He told us that he believes that Conservative deserve to get in power in May but that Nick Clegg did seem the most convincing on the night of the debate. He handed us one of his leaflets which I took although had no intentions to vote for both reasons that I am strongly against Conservative government and also because he was not an MP in my area. We discussed that we were doing a one minute manifesto on local MP from each of the Dorset areas that adventure would be East, West, North and South Dorset. We also discussed how people were still thinking about voting Liberal and how he felt about changing peoples minds. He responded that he has what it takes to be more public man and allow people to feel at ease to talk to him if they have any problems.

The manifesto began after plugging in the mini microphone on his shirt collar and after four takes he finally decided that he was happy with it. It was noisy background but luckily the noise of cars and lorries did not get recorded in the background. His manifesto followed the lines of ‘we believe in the strength and importance of family, of deregulated business, of healthcare that is delivered on a local level, of policing that is comprehensive, of a society that places social justice and respect at the top of its agenda. We firmly believe in free speech, the encouragement of creativity and enterprise, and the promotion of charitable causes, whether in terms of social housing or other local initiatives to give to those who need it most. Furthermore, we believe in a foreign policy that favours international development over unnecessary conflict’. He also said jokingly that everyone Is fed up with Gordon Brown so why wouldn’t they vote for him.

Finally we had what we wanted and he said thankyou to the both of us shaking our hands. He asked us who we were voting for in the election we both said we were still deciding, as best not to say it was Tories.