Question by bree: Why is the Interview the fundamental form of gathering information?
Can anyone help?
1. Why is the Interview the fundamental form of gathering information?
2. As a student journalist, how can you get your adult interview subjects to take you seriously?
3. How might interview results be manipulated to misrepresent the subject’s point of view?
4. Why is it important to prepare thoroughly for an interview?
5. What kinds of questions should you ask during an interview?
Best answer:
Answer by Len
1. For a number of reasons,the interview can be especially revealing. Your subject speaks on behalf of the ongoing investigation, management of a corporation or event made public by its newsworthiness or promotion, just to name a few. This means the interviewee bears responsibility. Unfortunately that does not mean there will be guaranteed objectivity or honesty.
The interviewer is in position to watch facial contortions and connect them with issue-sensitivity, possibly leading to more penetrating questions. You will be in the catbird seat. Additionally, you’re (presumably) the only one conducting said interview and therefore you have a measure of control over the flow of the meeting. If the session is recorded, all audible pauses and changes in conversational tone and timbre will be readily apparent. and help you “prove” deliberately withheld” information.
2, There is only one way to expect to be taken seriously and that’s by conducting yourself in a professional manner. Giggling, joking, playing “feel-sorry-for-me-I’m-just-a-silly-kid.” head games will destroy your chances in a heartbeat. Interviews don’t grow on trees and they are the only way to touch the nerve of any event deserving of public attention. Be dead serious, polite, and demonstrate respect for yourself and the opportunity at hand.
3. Depends upon who is doing the manipulation. You may elect to omit statements in an attempt to force a bias. Or, in the other direction, you may choose to preface a remark you recorded by the way in which you prepare the reader.
Example: In the interview, you ask, “Were you pleased with the results of your campaign?”
The response: “Well, yes…I was. The entire team was pleased.”
But you infer something altogether different when you present this:
Mr. So-and-so hid a smirk and then looked up at me, mumbling: “Well, yes…(long wait)…I was……..”
It’s very easy to skew things and this is probably the best case for examining several representations of important events unfolding before you and not trusting one media form.
4. It is absolutely essential to be exquisitely prepared for an interview if you want to get more information than your subject is prepared to surrender. Go into each interview with a hidden adversarial nature lurking beneath your sweet, smiling face. Never allow yourself to be perceived as threatening yet remain firmly in control of the propriety of your questions. You are the connective tissue between your subject and your readers. Floundering results in botched interviews whereas excellent preparation leaves both interviewer and interviewee pleased with their contributions.
5. The early questions should help both sides of the equation to settle in to the process at hand. Have your questions prepared beforehand with some ideas as to how you’d like to approach their end points without scaring your “prey” off. This means you’ll want to be subtle at times although possibly strident at others. Good interviews flirt with pros and cons, sort of like nearing a cliff as though about to fall to your death only to sense when to pull back from the edge. It’s an ebb & flow thing and you want your subject to travel the path you map out. Control must remain in the hands of the interviewer because the reverse will quickly become nothing more than self promotion.
The best questions will be those that bring your partner to expose more than was previously known.
Add your own answer in the comments!