Informal candidate interviews gaining traction on Facebook
Half-hour chats live streamed over cup of tea
WATERLOO — Election debates seemed outdated and unnatural to Hannah Marie Janhunen.
The Waterloo woman instead thought she’d invite candidates into her home to sit down and have a casual chat.
“It allows the city to see the person more than the politician,” she said. “You can really get a sense of who they are.”
The portrait photographer with a studio in uptown Waterloo got the idea while on a Facebook group for her neighbourhood in Ward 1. She added candidates to the group to let them know the issues people were chatting about.
“I just thought why not invite each of them over for tea.”
The first candidate interview was last Monday afternoon, livestreamed over Facebook to let people join the conversation.
The video got 100 views an hour, and tallied 1,100 views by the next morning with lots of positive comments.
“At that point I thought, ‘Hey, I’m onto something.’”
Her original plan was to do three interviews of her ward candidates who responded. But then people started reaching out to her and now she’s also chatting with mayoral and regional chair candidates.
“Next week is pretty booked up for me,” she said.
The conversation format is a far more relaxed and personal than a conventional debate, especially for candidates who aren’t used to being in front of a large live audience.
“It’s easy to go to a debate with pre-rehearsed answers,” she said.
She starts by asking the candidate to tell her about themselves, and then asks more specific questions about their motivation for running and their platform. The target time is about a half an hour.
“I just want to get to know them,” she said.
“I’ve been very pleased with the reception.”