Interviewing

The great interviewers — Oriana Fallaci,  Bill Moyers, David Frost, Silver Donald Cameron, Terry Gross, and others — seem to have that spark, that abiding curiosity (if not always affection)  for their fellow human beings.

But there are a few pedestrian rules to bear in mind as we approach one of the key elements of our craft.

Ethics:  (In general)  Read and understand the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.   (In an interview):  Always identify yourself and your organization.  Always ask permission for any recording, stating the purpose and eventual use, and then ask permission again  so that permission is on the recording. If you are interviewing or taking photos of children or teenagers, always ask permission of a parent or guardian.

Minimizing harm: The SPJ code of ethics says you should minimize harm. When interviewing victims of trauma or witnesses to crime, it is expected that you would refrain from fully identifying a private person.  You might use a first name, or make up a name, if you need to provide information about an experience from an interview or a police report or court testimony. In other words,  NEVER identify victims or witnesses. NEVER.   (In the case of sexual assault, the “take back the night” movement sometimes features speakers who publicly identify themselves as victims. Even then, most reporters would just use a first name).

Public figures versus private people:  American media law distinguishes between public and private people and issues.  If your subject is a private person, you should avoid intrusion and disclosure of private information.  (This can be a problem for oral histories, and historians & journalists will often identify subjects only by first name if very private information comes out).

On the record — Background — Deep background — Off the record —  It’s important to be clear about the status of a voluntary attribution or sourcing agreement  between journalists and interviewees. These agreements may (in unusual cases) be considered court-enforceable verbal contracts, but there is no criminal law in this area (nor should there be).  Public officials and public figures understand that any interview with a journalist is “on the record” unless there is an explicit agreement to the contrary. Private people without much experience handling media may need to have this clarified for them at the start of an interview.

“On background” usually means that the information and the institutional affiliation may be mentioned, but not the actual name of the source.  (“A state department official said today …” ).  “Deep background” means no source name and no institutional affiliation. (“A source said.”)  “Off the record” means that the reporter agrees the information will never be made public. It is unusual and often unwise.  Reporters almost always insist that all conversations be “on the record” unless there is a very compelling public interest that it be on background or deep background.   For more see “What Does Off the Record Really Mean?” NY Times, Aug. 2, 2018.

Preparation:  Learn about your subjects, their backgrounds, their publications, and perhaps something about their motives.   Prepare a list of questions for yourself, but think of new questions as you go along. Always be prepared to follow up.

Advance questions: Many journalists and oral historians will describe the information they are seeking without submitting exact questions;  others will submit questions but insist that there is more to the interview not be limited to those questions.  For journalists and most others, the overarching personal ethical concept is to seek the truth and act independently.  In practice, this means never agreeing in advance to limits on your questions.

Attitude:  The best interviews are exchanges of information between equals. Interviews can be  interesting and even fun, and you should go into them with a positive attitude. Comments such as, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you” or “Im very interested in your work” can help break the ice, so long as they are sincere and delivered professionally.  Be empathetic while maintaining a reserve of professionalism.  Avoid fawning and flattery on the one hand, and also avoid arrogance on the other hand.

Three levels: You’re working at three or more levels when you interview someone. You need to think about what they are saying, and also how they are saying it, and also the context in which it is being said. It’s usually helpful to have a voice recorder so you don’t have to focus on level 1.  If they are nervous or reluctant to talk, this is a level 2 problem, and  you might try to put them at ease and make this more of a conversation.   If they are rambling, and the context is that of a limited time frame, then you may have to interrupt them and refocus the interview.

Taking notes:  When you learned to take notes in school, you outlined topics and highlighted small phrases. But it’s different when you work as a reporter, since you have to report whole sentences, not just fragments from an outline. This involves holding the entire sentence in your memory as you write them  down.

Sometimes taking notes can be helpful in establishing trust at the beginning of an interview, especially if you make a point of taking down exactly, word for word, what your interviewee said, and then reading it back. This takes practice but pays off in the end. In the UK, absolute word-for-word stenography is recommended for a journalism license. (The US does not license journalists).

Recording interviews:  Again, be sure to ask permission when outside of a press conference context.  Not everyone trusts their voice recorders. Often we take notes of key points just to be safe, and usually on long reporters note pads while also holding voice recorders.

During the interview:

  • Listen, wait, be patient, most of all be quiet and use the silences.  At all costs avoid the temptation to talk about yourself except to keep the interview going.
  • Follow up on obvious points to encourage the interviewee. Don’t stick to a script. Nod and make small encouraging comments.
  • Continue to put yourself in the other person’s position as a reality check. How must they feel being interviewed on this topic?   This is important when interviewing survivors of tragedies. Do not objectify people. Treat them as human beings worthy of respect.

Questions:    

— Several lists of specific questions are available on the web:

General questions  Along with your specific questions, you should have a few general questions designed to open up new areas of  information, such as:

  • How did you become interested in _____ ?
  • What do you like about _______ ?  What is most frustrating?
  •  What are (have been) your goals? What are (have been) your obstacles?
  • What other questions would you ask if you were the interviewer?

Ending the interview:

  • Express your thanks, again.
  • Explain again how the information will be used, and assure them you will be available if they have any further questions for you.
  • Followup:  For journalists, its absolutely vital to obtain follow up phone / cell / email information so that facts can be double-checked or new developments can be explained.   Make sure that if you are on a tight deadline, there is a way to reach your interviewee before the deadline.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Poynter Webinar: Conducting Interviews that Matter with Joshua Johnson. Free.

Whistleblowers:  Individuals in government and industry often know about wrongdoing and would like to see it exposed. Here’s one very good guide on how to deal with whistleblowers. 

IRBs:  Generally, journalism does not fall under IRB (Institutional Review Board ) guidelines, and college journalism faculty have a responsibility to resist unnecessary intrusion into news reporting and journalism education from well-meaning individuals who would like to see committees approve all questions journalists ask on campus.

In other fields, IRBs are vital ethical tools. They protect human subjects and researchers  in psychology, sociology and other fields, helping to avoid harm (as in the 1963 Milgram experiment).

However, journalism and public issue reporting should not require approval  from a university IRB.  For more information see CFR  46.101 [b] [2] U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.   Also see Evergreen College guidelines:    http://www.evergreen.edu/humansubjectsreview/nonhsr.htm