Interviewed

I was interviewed today by Elizabeth McGuire for Hartford Magazine. Elizabeth was a reporter here at the TV station many years ago. Since then, she’s worked in radio and TV and now teaches at UCONN.

There is a thin line you walk when being interviewed. I certainly want to be truthful and don’t want to hold anything back. On the other hand, it is so easy to say something mean or self serving and not realize it, or you can say something within a broad topic which changes meaning when taken out of context.

I used to work with an anchor whose name I won’t mention. It was sad to read her quoted in a newspaper or a magazine and have her come off totally different than she intended. Then, she’d say she was misquoted. But, if you closed your eyes and said the quoted words, you could hear it was her style and syntax. She just couldn’t understand how what she said was perceived by others.

It happened more than once. I would hope by now that she’s learned.

When interviewed, I have been asked about the emotional connection I have with my forecasts. Some folks are surprised when I say I anguish over the details of a forecast. Though I often feel bad being the bearer of bad news, I have to remove that from the forecast making process. There is never an upside to being wrong.

Being recognized at the supermarket or a restaurant is one of the best methods you can get for achieving greater accuracy! Let’s face it, who wants to get pummeled when wrong? So, I tend to be very sensistive to exactly what I say and will admit when I’m not as sure as I’d like to be. I also acknowledge my mistakes on the air.

Truth is, on most days, most forecasters have the same forecast. We’d have to, because on most days most of us are right.

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