Fast, furious and factual
Credit: ESPN Start Sports
This motorsports reporter has to be both quick and correct. There are no shortcuts, says Sanjeev Palar.
Sanjeev Palar has one of the coolest jobs in the world. He is a television producer and host who reports on Formula 1 and motorcycle Grand Prix racing. He gets to watch races all over the world and chat with champions like Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
However, he can't just sit back and enjoy the show. When he speaks on the ESPN Star Sports channel, people count on him to get it right. It is like sitting an oral exam - with millions watching. We ask him how he does it.
Q: How do you go about preparing for interviews?
A: I do a lot of research beforehand. My motto is "If you're not prepared, prepare to fail". I can't stress this enough. Once, I read up on the entire history of a driver even though I had planned to ask him about it during the interview.
Halfway through one of his answers, the driver referred to his past and how that made an impact on him. I was so grateful that I knew what he was referring to and could ask follow-up questions. My approach is to know the drivers' or riders' history better than they do.
Q: You rely on several information sources when reporting, including websites and press releases. How do you decide which to listen to?
A: News and websites that are written by people I know and have met are those that I generally trust. There are F1 sites that look fancy but don't say who the authors are or don't state the source of their reports. These are the ones to be wary of.
Once, I was at a press conference where the drivers were getting asked questions about their future. Michael Schumacher deflected most of the questions. But, in jest, he cheekily said that maybe this won't be his last season just yet. What I read on a website later was a headline like "Michael Schumacher determined to stay in Formula 1". Having been in the room, I knew that was not Schumacher's actual intention. He was neither saying yes or no to questions about his future plans. However, in order to create a "headline", this website took something said in jest and used it to its advantage.
Q: How do you tell whether what your interviewees say is accurate?
A: Sometimes, drivers or riders fail to tell the whole truth, especially if they are giving their version of how an accident on track took place. The thing is to always check facts, and sometimes know your facts. For instance, there was a driver who said by accident that he had won the race at a particular circuit in 2008, although he actually won it in 2007. So if you know your facts, you can ask for clarification, rather than taking his word and making a huge blunder.
Q: You must often encounter gossip about drivers and teams. How do you separate the fact from fiction?
A: In F1, there is always speculation that some driver is moving somewhere or a new race is going to join the calendar. I filter out items that I think are purely sensational.
If you understand Bernie Ecclestone, the chief of the F1, then you will understand not to take everything he says at face value: Bernie always likes to mention the prospect of potential new circuits when negotiating with other circuits.
Learning from Sanjeev
In this new series, we find out from real people how "information literacy" helps them. You may have heard this term before. It is basically about separating good information from bad information. What you may not realise is that information literacy isn't just for school. Adults use it too, to solve all sorts of real-life problems.
This month, Sanjeev Palar tells us how he uses information literacy skills to make him a better motorsports TV presenter. One thing he has figured out is that there are different reasons why people may not give you information that is 100 percent accurate. For example:
Sanjeev Palar has one of the coolest jobs in the world. He is a television producer and host who reports on Formula 1 and motorcycle Grand Prix racing. He gets to watch races all over the world and chat with champions like Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
However, he can't just sit back and enjoy the show. When he speaks on the ESPN Star Sports channel, people count on him to get it right. It is like sitting an oral exam - with millions watching. We ask him how he does it.
Q: How do you go about preparing for interviews?
A: I do a lot of research beforehand. My motto is "If you're not prepared, prepare to fail". I can't stress this enough. Once, I read up on the entire history of a driver even though I had planned to ask him about it during the interview.
Halfway through one of his answers, the driver referred to his past and how that made an impact on him. I was so grateful that I knew what he was referring to and could ask follow-up questions. My approach is to know the drivers' or riders' history better than they do.
Q: You rely on several information sources when reporting, including websites and press releases. How do you decide which to listen to?
A: News and websites that are written by people I know and have met are those that I generally trust. There are F1 sites that look fancy but don't say who the authors are or don't state the source of their reports. These are the ones to be wary of.
Once, I was at a press conference where the drivers were getting asked questions about their future. Michael Schumacher deflected most of the questions. But, in jest, he cheekily said that maybe this won't be his last season just yet. What I read on a website later was a headline like "Michael Schumacher determined to stay in Formula 1". Having been in the room, I knew that was not Schumacher's actual intention. He was neither saying yes or no to questions about his future plans. However, in order to create a "headline", this website took something said in jest and used it to its advantage.
Q: How do you tell whether what your interviewees say is accurate?
A: Sometimes, drivers or riders fail to tell the whole truth, especially if they are giving their version of how an accident on track took place. The thing is to always check facts, and sometimes know your facts. For instance, there was a driver who said by accident that he had won the race at a particular circuit in 2008, although he actually won it in 2007. So if you know your facts, you can ask for clarification, rather than taking his word and making a huge blunder.
Q: You must often encounter gossip about drivers and teams. How do you separate the fact from fiction?
A: In F1, there is always speculation that some driver is moving somewhere or a new race is going to join the calendar. I filter out items that I think are purely sensational.
If you understand Bernie Ecclestone, the chief of the F1, then you will understand not to take everything he says at face value: Bernie always likes to mention the prospect of potential new circuits when negotiating with other circuits.
Learning from Sanjeev
In this new series, we find out from real people how "information literacy" helps them. You may have heard this term before. It is basically about separating good information from bad information. What you may not realise is that information literacy isn't just for school. Adults use it too, to solve all sorts of real-life problems.
This month, Sanjeev Palar tells us how he uses information literacy skills to make him a better motorsports TV presenter. One thing he has figured out is that there are different reasons why people may not give you information that is 100 percent accurate. For example:
- They may want to exaggerate or sensationalise the information to make it more interesting, like the website that twisted the words of F1 driver Michael Schumacher.
- They may be selecting their words to create a positive impression about their business, like the F1 boss who wants to get a good deal from those who own the racing circuits.
- They may get facts wrong by accident, like the driver who forgot the year when he won a race.