All your stories will require some sort of interview. There are many possible ways to interview a person--face to face is generally best, but you can also do telephone interviews (particularly good when all you need is a quick comment or a good quote or two to back up a story). For professional reporters, the telephone interview is probably the most common (for time management reasons). Email interviewing can be excellent--it allows the interviewee time to think about the questions and to answer in well-constructed sentences (and it's really hard to misquote someone when you have their written responses in front of you).
I will assign each of you a person to interview. In some cases, there will be a specific subject on which the interview should focus; in other cases, the interviewee is new on campus and your task is to profile the person. I'll give you some hints about the ways you can approach your interviews, but you will be free to elect to focus your story in any way that meets the assignment.
Setting up the interview
As soon as you get your reporting assignment, set up your interview. The most common cause for failure to meet deadline is that the source was not available because the reporter failed to set up the interview in time. You have only one free extension; don't use it until you have to!
To set up your interview,
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Call in advance to set up the appointment |
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Tell your source the subject of your assignment |
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Tell your subject an estimate of the time this will take (probably about 30 minutes) |
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Arrange to meet your interview subject at a place of their choosing (usually their office) or at a quiet neutral place |
Preparing questions
Go to your interview prepared. You will need to prepare a list of questions (even though it's likely you won't stick to the list). Preparing the questions is key: it helps you focus on what you want your story to be about, and it will be a lifesaver if you blank out during the interview.
You should always try to do some preliminary research on your subject as a way to help generate story ideas. You may wish to talk to someone who can give you background information; you may want to do document research. Try to understand your subject as much as you can before you go into the interview.
Be particularly careful to craft questions that invite more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Crafting such questions will help prepare you for how to redirect answers during an interview in order to get more specific information.
During the interview, it's entirely possible that you'll never do more than glance at this list of questions. That's fine--but it's VERY important that you work them out ahead of time. Mark those questions you think are key questions, so that when you come to the end of the interview you can review your list and make sure you didn't leave off anything essential.
One question that is essential for everyone: ALWAYS check the spelling of the person's name and ask for their exact title. Put a note to yourself in your list of questions so that you won't forget this step.
Assignment: Email me your proposed interview questions by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10.
Before the interview
First, you may wish to leave your interview subject a voice mail message the night before your appointment to remind him or her that you'll be coming for the interview the next day. Be sure to leave a number where you can be contacted if there is any need for a change in plans.
Dress appropriately for the interview. What constitutes "appropriate" is open to interpretation. You don't have to dress up for the interview (and probably shouldn't, since it might well make both you and your interview subject uncomfortable). But you still should show respect for your interview subject and try not to draw too much attention to yourself (nothing sloppy, revealing or potentially offensive--remember that some people are offended by men who wear hats indoors, for instance).
Be sure to pack what you need for the interview (questions, notebook, pen). Get to the interview on time (or better yet, a tad early--though not so early that you seem to rush the interview subject). Have your notebook and materials out and ready before you go into the interview.
Conducting the interview
The very first thing you should do is thank the person for their time (and do it again at the end of the interview).
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Be friendly. Don't hesitate to start out with a little small talk to relax both of you (but keep it brief). However, don't let the small talk become a conversation about YOU! Keep your focus on the interviewee (perhaps commenting on the office or on something on the desk). Don't hesitate to admit that this is your first interview and you're a little nervous--it'll probably help both of you to relax. DO NOT use up too much time with small talk--your interviewee's time is valuable, and this isn't a social call.
You might want to use the confirmation of spelling of the name and of the exact title as a way to break off the small talk and move on to the business at hand.
You may wish to start by giving your interviewee an overview of what you see as the focus of the story. This overview will help you step into the questions, and it should also help keep YOU focused on the story.
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You will probably go into the interview with your first question already picked out. But don't just run down your list of questions like an automaton; let the interview flow like a conversation as much as possible. New questions will come to you as you go along, and when your original questions don't elicit the response you need, you will have to ask follow-up questions.
Remember, you're going to want more than just vague generalizations. Keep trying to direct your interviewee to give you specifics.
For instance, I'm going to go postal if I get one more interview story in which someone writes:
When asked what she likes best about Georgetown, Professor Newbie said it is the students.
The objections to this sentence are legion (including that one shouldn't repeat the question you asked during your interview when writing your story). But the main objection is that it's such a blah, vague answer.
Follow-up questions would've improved the situation. Perhaps you do have, as your question on your list, "What do you like best about Georgetown?" And let's say you get the inevitable cliché answer. Follow it up, and try to get the person to say something more interesting. Possible follow-ups might include questions such as: What makes Georgetown students different from students you have known at other colleges? Can you tell me a story that illustrates why you like the students here? Maybe, if you asked good questions, you could get details like this:
Professor Newbie said she enjoys the friendliness of Georgetown's students. "When I was trying to move the barcalounger into my office, three big guys were there to help me, even before I got it out of trunk of my Porsche," she said.
Key ways to get developed answers:
Ask "Why?"
Ask "Can you tell me a story about that?" or "Can you give me any
examples?"
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Focus on listening during the interview (not on talking). Your side of the conversation should be limited, as much as possible, to asking questions. Your questions should show that you're listening, not just following your pre-determined list of questions; keep some eye contact, even though you're going to be writing notes furiously during this entire interview. Actually, the act of note taking shows that you're listening. Even if you're not going to use some of the material, write it down anyway--nothing irks interview subjects more than to think that you don't care enough about what they're saying to write it down.
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Ask dumb questions when you need to ask them. Yes, you may feel a bit like an idiot of your interviewee makes a reference to something you don't understand and you have to ask about it. But better to feel like an idiot for a moment in an interview than to look like an idiot forever in print.
I'll give you some horror stories. I read about this first one: a student interviewing a new professor asked her about her favorite book. To the student's ears, the professor seemed to say the book was "Lame is Rob." Now, the student had never heard of this book but didn't want to ask about it, fearing to look stupid. However, he put the title in the story. And yes, the professor's favorite book was actually Les Miserables.
The second example appeared in The Georgetonian several years ago, when a student again was asking a professor about what he liked to read. The professor said he'd been reading a lot of science fiction by what were known as cyberpunk authors. The student had never heard of the term and didn't think to ask about it. When she wrote the story, she wrote that he read "siber punk literature."
And then there was the student who was interviewing Dr. Lindsey Apple about something and wanted to quote him on the subject. She wrote down exactly what he'd said, even though it didn't make any real sense to her. Apple said, "Something had gone awry." She wrote it down (and it appeared in the paper) as, "Something had gone a rye."
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Listen for cues that information may not be reliable. In general, people won't lie to you. But sometimes you may take as absolute truth something that your source didn't intend for you to treat as absolute truth. For instance, say you were interviewing me about when I became chair of the English department, and I said, "I think it was in the fall of 1994." Don't just put in the story that "Allen became chair of the English department in the fall of 1994." I gave you a cue that I couldn't remember the exact date. You need to check on it before you report it as fact. Listen for such cues and make notes to yourself to check things that might need checking.
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End your interview with something like this question: "Is there anything more I should have asked you?" Give the interviewee a chance to bring up key issues you might not have known enough about to ask. You can get some great information this way, and sometimes you'll discover whole new facets of your story that you didn't know existed.
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No matter what, do not tell your source that you'll allow them to read the story before it's published. Yes, I know; allowing the interviewee to read your story could prevent one of those embarrassing errors I mentioned earlier. But it is VERY bad journalistic practice to allow your sources to edit your text. Don't do it, even if your source is just trying to be helpful.
If your sources ask you if they can read the story before it goes to print, say something like, "I'll be on a tight deadline, but I promise that if I have any questions or doubts about anything in the story, I'll contact you." Then ask how best to contact them.
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Should you use a tape recorder for the interview? There are arguments for and against. For: It allows you to check your quotes for accuracy; it can serve as a legal defense if you're ever sued; it makes you look interested in accuracy and thus professional. Against: a recorder makes some interview subjects uncomfortable; it can tempt you to stop taking notes (and thus can waste your time); they can malfunction unexpectedly and leave you with nothing.
In short, I see the argument in favor of recorders, but even if you use a recorder you should use it only for backup; you should take notes exactly the way you would if you didn't have a recorder.
I have a recorder I will lend you if you feel you need one (especially if you ever find yourself doing a highly sensitive story where you might want the backup of a taped version of the interview).
A quick review:
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Be friendly |
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Ask follow-up questions |
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Listen (don't talk about yourself) |
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Ask dumb questions when necessary |
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Listen for cues that suggest potentially inaccurate information |
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Before you leave, ask if there's anything more you should have asked |
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Do not allow the source to check your article before publication |
Before you do your interview, be sure to read Journalism.org's 10 Tips for Interviewing
AP Quiz: Essential clauses/nonessential clauses; essential phrases/nonessential phrases; composition titles
Interview assignments
Dr. Andy Brothers (new professor in psychology):
Claude Anderson
Dr. Gene Pace (new
professor in languages):
Jennifer Bustle
Ms. Tracy Livingston (new professor in biology):
Vanessa Carper
Dr.
Eve Proffitt (new professor in graduate education; specialist in special
education):
Jessie Langlitz
Dr. Nancy Whitlock (new professor in graduate
education):
Farrah Dicken
Mr. Jim Moak (new chief financial officer):
Josh Fenner
Ms. Kimberly
Gift (returning adjunct English instructor, newly returned from Japan)
Gina Puttoff
Dr.
Steven Carter (English professor--his novel, I Was Howard Hughes, comes out in
mid-September):
Jesse Darland
Ms. Georgia Moore (Bookstore--has recently taken over as
textbook manager):
Libby Collins
Dr. Todd Gambell --new VP for student life:
Michael Hedges
Dr. Jon Dalager (returning
after a sabbatical year):
Sarah Jackson
Dr. Homer White (returning after a sabbatical year):
Annie Ormsbee
Ms.
Allison
Steele, a new adjunct professor in English who is a graduate of GC:
Amanda Lewis
Dr. Gretchen Lohman
on her new duties and her reaction to her year as interim dean:
Katie Dale
Johnnie Johnson, new director of admissions (not new to campus, but new to the job): You may switch to this interview (after consulting me) if your first assignment doesn't work out!