Voice of the People

A Vox Pop is the voice of the public through surveying them a about a specific matter especially for being published or broadcasted. Things such as politics or the premier league for example would be make a successful Vox Pop.

Many good Vox Pops include things such as open questions. An open question is a question beginning with either who, what, where, when, why or how as these can develop into an explanation rather than a simple one word answer, making the interview more interesting as it allows them to express opinions. In contrast to this is,  closed questions which are more one word simple answers which don’t require a explanation. These are rarely used in Vox Pops due to the lack of detail. Vox pops style questions may include;

• How do you feel about the amount of plastic pollution we are discovering today?
• What do you feel is the best mode of transport?
• Where do you think the best holiday destination is and why?

Vox Pops:

After watching these three Vox Pops on YouTube I have discovered what makes a good Vox Pop and the techniques used within the media to achieve this. Firstly, the videos are clearly labeled with the topic of conversation or even the question being asked to the public. This makes it a successful Vox Pop as the journalist isn’t heard asking the questions making it more clear and professional and more importantly getting straight to the point for the viewers watching. In addition to this, the journalist focuses on an open question, meaning it allows the public speaker to go into depth on the topic and express their opinions, rather than one word answers which wouldn’t attract the viewers attention or the publics.

Another point in which makes these Vox Pops successful is the fact they are aimed at a specific age group meaning its aimed at a specific audience, due to the topic of conversation and the fact the audience will be able to relate. Although, the Vox Pop focused on Brexit covers a variety of ages, genders and people, meaning the viewers can get a variety of different opinions to expand on their understanding of the topic. By the audience viewing a range of opinions will allow them to gain their own opinion rather than just hearing the opinion of one age range or gender.

Vox Pops part two…

Research on plastic pollution;

• 50% of the plastic we use, we use just once then throw away.
• Since the 1950’s around 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced.
• Worldwide about 2 million plastic bags are brought around the world every minute.
• 97% of plastic ever made still exists
• The world uses over 300 million tons of plastic a year.
• There is approximately 51 trillion microscopic pieces of plastic, weighing 269,000 tons today. This is equivalent to 1345 adult blue whales.
• Plastics consistently make up 60-90% of  marine debris studied.
• 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.

Our vox pops;

• “Everything is recycled in Princesshay and we use cardboard not plastic straws “- Danielle, aged 26, Barista.
• “We separate all the recycling bins and we use non plastic straws, we also use the method of charging 25p off a drink if you bring your own reusable cup”- Kristen, aged 25, Barista.
• ” Separate bins like the recycling bins and compost bins”- Emily, aged 19, Waitress.
• ” Don’t use plastic straws or give out any plastic takeaway products, they’re all cardboard”-Dan, aged 30, Server.
• ” We use all non plastic packaging and all products used are recyclable”- Olaf, aged 28, Server.
• ” We use all recyclable plastic like biodegradable straws and we recycle”- Kate, Manager, no age given.
• ” We have recently changed plastic straws to cardboard straws, all the cups are made of paper, but we are very aware of the plastic issue worldwide”- Mark, aged 45, Bakery assistant.

Vox Pops part three…

Are you contributing to plastic pollution?…

Do you feel the government and yourself are contributing enough towards the amount of plastic pollution we are discovering today and helping to reduce this problem? I decided to speak to the people of Exeter to see how they feel towards this rising issue.

First of all, what do you know about plastic pollution? Plastic pollution is a build up of used plastic within an area it shouldn’t belong. Unfortunately, worldwide everywhere is suffering with this problem which will only continue to rise if nothing changes. It is estimated that 50% of the plastic we use today, we only use once before throwing away. Also that 97% of plastic ever made is still existing to this day. This makes us question how many people actually do recycle rather than throw everything away together, polluting the planet massively and contributing to this rising issue. It has been found that since the 1950’s around 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced. So the big question is, why? I decided to do something about this matter myself due to the high controversy surrounding the topic. I went out into the streets of Exeter and decided to ask the public how they felt towards this matter, by focusing on all the businesses within Exeter such as the cafes and restaurants. The question I focused on was, ” What do you do in your work place to reduce plastic pollution?”.

We spoke to Danielle, aged 26 whose occupation was a barista within Carluccio’s. She explained that, ” Everything in Princesshay is recycled properly and we have recently changed our straws from plastic to cardboard ” This was a common answer throughout the vox pops as Kristen aged 25, who works as a barista said, ” we separate all the recycling bins here and have changed to using cardboard straws.” Kristen then goes on to explain, “we are starting to encourage people to use their own reusable cups by charging them 25p off any drink, influencing people to use less plastic”. I really like this idea of charging less for helping to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced as just this little step will encourage people and hopefully make a big difference.

We then spoke to a waitress aged 19 called Emily, who explained again, “Separating the bins really helps as we separate them into recycling and compost”. In addition to this, Dan aged 30, working as a server in a café states, “we don’t use any plastic straws anymore and only give out cardboard takeaway products” I realized from researching and surveying the public that using cardboard straws and recycling seem to be the main source of action. I agree with the actions taking place and feel that many businesses are contributing to the reduction of this problem, however will this make a change?

Overall, by exploring this topic it has helped us to understand how the public feel towards this issue and how they’re contributing to make a change. I feel that businesses are imputing a lot of effort into this matter by encouraging people to either use less plastic or not having plastic as an option within the work place, showing that they are aware of the controversy surrounding the topic. I hope in the future there may be a world that can live without plastic.