In your own words, describe interviewing principles, techniques and practices for the following:

Print Media, Internet, Radio, Television



“Don’t let them bullshit you”
Ø - Always ask for jargon to be explained
Ø Technical talk is always euphemisms
Ø ie: an airline may claim a “passenger underflow”, which really means no one wants to fly with them.
Ø The military has a great history with jargon.
Ø ie. In America, 1979; “An Abnormal evolution at a plant, followed by rapid oxidisation” was the way to explain an explosion and subsequent plutonium leakage of a radioactive plant
Ø A lot of blunt phrases are considered ‘uncouth’. If you don’t understand the interviewee, push them until you do. Squeeze the jargon out.



Listen to the answers

Ø It’s easy to be more concerned with writing down the next question or taking down the answer that you fail to appreciate the significance of what’s being said
Ø 10 minutes after is too late to realise something great was said
Ø A man once quoted; “I have made love to 10,000 women”
Ø It turns out he only made love to at most 1,200 because of the sheer amount of time he would have to expend and his wife’s experiences.


Dare to ask the cheeky question!
Ø There’s so much profit in cheeky questions!
Ø Don’t just pop it out at the start or without warning. Otherwise, the interviewee might pop a blank look or silence
Ø It can cause an awesome answer or outburst
Ø Your entire articles can end up relying on it

Stop people rambling
Ø Time in an interview is short and nothing’s more destructive than irrelevant rambling
Ø You can tell them you’re short of time or have a lot of questions but that’s not endearing for your character (Something very important)
Ø The trick is to interrupt them with something trivial (Vague hobbies, something in the room) and once they’ve responded, ask a more relevant question.



Review answers
Ø Go back over notes with the interviewee and others and double check figures!
Ø There are two main reasons for this;
- Are there any holes?
- Could you squeeze more information?

Never make promises about story’s treatment
Ø Only the editor is in power of that
Ø It’s a very common question and you shouldn’t answer it.
Ø Just say you’re a reporter and give the editor’s name and number for future reference.