A journalist needs to be well-prepared when planning an interview. However, after all your research, try to keep the interview to three questions, because if you haven’t worked out in three what you want to find out from the person you are talking to you, you probably never will.

And try to avoid looking at your notes, but, instead, pay attention to what the person you are interviewing is saying, otherwise you might miss the news story. Here are a few tips for planning and executing an interview.

20 interviewing tips for journalists

1: Never give an interviewee questions in advance. It’s fine to give a general idea about the interview themes, but being too specific may limit what you can ask in the interview. It also risks being overtaken by events and allows the interviewee to rehearse answers.

2: Be on time. There’s nothing worse than keeping someone waiting.

3: Always check that your equipment is working and fully charged before you leave the office.

4: Treat the interviewee with respect whether they are a president or a man or woman in the street. A warm but not over-enthusiastic greeting is a good start.

5: Take control of the location. It’s your interview. You need to choose a place that isn’t too noisy and where there are not too many distractions.

6: You are not meant to be the centre of attention. The interview is not about you. You are there to get the perspective of the interviewee, not give your own.

7: Do the research you need to, but don’t try to cram it all into your questions. Put yourself in the shoes of a member of your audience before you start the interview. If they were here, what would they ask?

8: Ask the most important question first. The more pressed the interviewee is, the less time they will have, and the more likely that they will cut the interview short.

9: The interview is a conversation, it’s not a confrontation. You are not there to make the interviewee look stupid.

10: Try to avoid looking at notes. If you look at your notes, the interviewee may be distracted. And it’s difficult for you to read and listen at the same time.

11: Maintain eye contact at all times. Keep your body language in check. If you nod your head, your subject may take this to mean that you agree with them and assume that there is no need to explain further. You may miss the chance to discover more.  If you shake your head, or recoil with a shocked facial expression, you risk making your subject clam up. You will have shown them that you find their views offensive and so they are likely to stop short of saying even more in the same vein.

12: Try to ask a maximum of three or four questions. An interview is not a fishing expedition. If you can’t get to the essence of what you want the interviewee to say in three or four questions, change the questions.

13: There are six basic questions: what, why, when, how, where and who.

14: Shorter questions are better than longer ones. Never ask more than one question at a time. Combining questions makes it easy for the interviewee to avoid answering one altogether. Be as direct as you can without being rude.

15: Be sure of your facts. There’s nothing worse than being told you are wrong by an interviewee – especially when it’s live.

16: Listen to what the interviewee is saying. They might want to use your interview to announce something important that you were not expecting.

17: If the interviewee is not happy with the way they answered a particular question, don’t give in to appeals for them to do it again – unless there is a factual error in the answer or there is a risk of serious confusion.

18: At the end of the interview, no matter how difficult the interviewee has been, always say thank you

19: Always check the interview has been recorded before the interviewee leaves.

20: When you’re editing, don’t take answers out of context. That’s dishonest.

Related training modules

How to interview politicians

Why would anyone want to talk to a journalist?

Interviewing integrity – scenario

Interview tips for video journalists

The post Preparing for and carrying out an interview first appeared on Media Helping Media.

There may be many reasons why someone will agree to open up to a reporter, and some will be beyond their control. It’s worth taking time to try to figure out the motives of the person you want to interview before you start talking to them. It may help you get a better interview.

Why would someone want to talk to a journalist and what might be their motives for doing so? The following tips are offered to try to help investigative journalists understand those they are interviewing.

• She doesn’t really want to, but it’s her job – she has to.
• He believes strongly in his cause.
• She wants to get the facts right – to set the record straight.
• He’s outraged at something or someone.
• She wants to defend someone else.
• His ego is so big he can’t resist the exposure.
• She feels guilty and wants to confess.
• He wants to defend himself against what others are saying or doing.
• She wants to give the impression she’s not guilty.
• He’s deluded – doesn’t have a clue how foolish he’ll look.
• She’s a sociopath and thinks she can con the journalist.
• He has a hidden agenda.
• She’s obedient and believes that journalists have some kind of authority.
• He thinks it’s just the right thing to do.
• She’s getting paid by someone to talk.
• He’s trying to divert the journalist’s attention from something.
• She’s punishing another journalist or news outlet.
• He hopes the exposure will further his career or help his reputation.

What would motivate a person to talk to a journalist?

• He believes that the journalist really cares.
• She believes that the journalist really understands the story.
• He believes that the journalist is likely to agree with his point of view.
• She believes that the journalist will somehow pay her for the interview.
• He’s rewarding the journalist who is more persistent.
• She’s rewarding the journalist who hasn’t pestered her.
• He wants to talk to a journalist of a particular race, sex, religion, alma mater, etc.
• She co-operates with a journalist who isn’t of a particular race, religion, etc.
• He is impressed with the journalist’s patience.
• She believes that the journalist will be more accurate than the others.
• He believes that the journalist is somehow more sympathetic or empathic.
• He believes that the journalist is more experienced.
• She believes that the journalist is more trustworthy.
• The journalist came highly recommended.
• She’s read/seen/heard the journalist’s work and likes his/her work.
• He believes the journalist is naïve and can somehow be hoodwinked.
• She believes the journalist’s publication/program will reach more people.
• He believes that the journalist is just plain nice.
• She likes the anchors on the journalist’s newscast.
• He believes that he might be able to score with the journalist.
• She believes that the journalist might help her get a job as a reporter.
• He believes that the reporter might have information that could be helpful.
• She supports the perceived editorial position of the publication/station/network.

The investigative journalist should look for the telltale signs of certain feelings, emotions or conditions that may play a part in someone’s decision to co-operate – such as gratitude, trust, responsibility, fear, guilt, greed, curiosity, sport, lunacy, sex, ego and/or pleasure.

The post Why would anyone want to talk to a journalist? first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Our role as journalists is to unearth information, prepare it and then display it for the benefit of the audience. We are not there to fabricate, manipulate or force. We are there to uncover facts, not plant them. So what are the essential attitudes needed when going out on a story?

A journalist must not have an agenda

I wrote this training module after an experience in the Caucasus when a young journalist interviewed me. I was told the interview was going to be about the course I was running.

However it became clear that the reporter had only one question in mind. She wanted to know what I thought of the political situation in her country, and she kept repeating the question, clearly eager to hear the answer that she wanted to hear from a visiting journalism trainer from England.

She kept returning to the same question to which I was only able to tell her that I was there to deliver journalism training and not to comment on the country’s political situation. But she wouldn’t give up, and each time she asked the question she became more and more animated adding opinion and some anger to her leading questions.

It was an approach that I had not personally been exposed to before. And it made me think about how important it is for journalists to remain objective and impartial not only when reporting about events, but also when planning interviews.

It also reminded me of the many times I have gone out on a story with an end result in mind.

Like all journalists, I always wanted my story to run, either in print when I was a newspaper journalist, or in the bulletins and current affairs shows when I was a radio and TV correspondent.

I also wanted it to be hard-hitting, insightful, memorable and – let’s be honest – to win me praise and make me look good.

Looking back, and with the Caucasus interview in mind, here are a few thoughts on how to make sure journalism relates to reality and not our own idea of how a situation should play out.

1: Retain an open mind

It’s fine to set off on an interview having done your research and with one burning question in your mind. In fact, not to do so could be seen as sloppy and could leave you open to manipulation.

However, you need to retain an open mind and accept that unexpected things may happen. It may be that there is a stronger line of questioning than the one you had thought of as you set off for the interview.

You will probably not spot that opportunity if you are working to a set script and have an end result in mind.

So it’s important to be prepared to leave your script behind and retain an open mind when you meet your interviewee.

2: Don’t force an issue

Some journalists misinterpret resistance to questioning to be an admission of guilt, and that if the interviewee refuses to answer, or avoids the question, they have something to hide. It might not mean that.

It could mean that it was a bad question not relevant to the topic.

It could also mean that the person you are interviewing genuinely doesn’t have an answer or opinion.

It could mean that you don’t understand the complexity of the issues being discussed.

Press too hard at times like these and you could end up looking silly and damage the integrity of the media organisation you represent.

Confrontation is not necessarily a sign of good journalism – just because you get a reaction doesn’t mean you have made a good point.

3: Be firm but fair

You can be rigorous and robust in your interviewing and remain fair. You probably won’t achieve this with a shouting match and a standoff.

It will need clear questioning and sensible interpretation of the answers.

Your role is not to appear smart and score points against the interviewee. Your role is to inform the public debate so that the audience can make educated choices.

Be prepared to back down if you have asked a question that is clearly irrelevant and off-topic.

Be prepared to admit when you are wrong or when you are still learning.

Be prepared to acknowledge a good point if the interviewee offers a plausible explanation.

Always challenge yourself more than you challenge the interviewee. If not, you will appear arrogant and lacking in objectivity and impartiality. Interviews should be conversations, not lectures.

Interviews conducted with a desired end result are rarely more than rants, and fitting only to those media organisations that have vested interests controlling their editorial agenda.

The post How to avoid make-believe journalism first appeared on Media Helping Media.

There is a fine art to interviewing politicians

You need to understand their motivation, realise they will have a script, not allow them to complicate matters, refuse to be sidetracked, retain an open mind, know your subject, and avoid a slanging match. You are there only to uncover information in order to inform the public debate.

1: Interview for the benefit of the audience

You both have a constituency. Yours is the audience, who you are committed to inform with balanced, impartial, objective and accurate information.

Theirs is the electorate that they represent, made up of people who may or may not have voted for them.

You are there to ask questions on behalf of your audience and uncover information in the category of “had it not been for you the world would never have known”.

You are not there to look smart or to try to win a battle.

A political interview does not have to become confrontational and heated.

A good interviewer will draw out the information she or he is seeking without the need for raised voices.

2: Understand the politician’s motivation

Your motivation should be to inform the public debate with robust journalism, offering verified and sourced facts that enable the audience to understand better what is going on around them and make educated choices.

However ambition, personal interests, activism, personal gain, revenge and other personal baggage could get in the way.

You have a responsibility to deal with this. This is about integrity. You can’t conduct a meaningful political interview without integrity.

Their motivation should also be to inform the public debate, and to ensure that the needs of all in the community they serve are represented and accounted for.

However, party loyalty, fear of losing their seat/position, ambition, ideology, and a host of personal issues could cloud this.

Your job is to see through this and cut to the facts of the matter being discussed.

Politicians are public servants. They have been elected to do a job on behalf of those they represent. Their professional performance is open to scrutiny.

You as a journalist have a unique responsibility to sit with these decision-makers and ask them the telling questions that your audience is not able to ask.

You are operating on behalf of your audience. It is your job to dig deep and to uncover facts about professional conduct, how the politician is executing his or her responsibilities, and any personal issues that might prevent them from doing so.

3: Keep it simple

Politicians might try to complicate matters when it suits them. They may try to make the journalist feel inferior by suggesting that they do not understand the situation.

Phrases such as “well, it’s complicated” and “you need to understand the background to this”, are common ways of trying to reduce the effectiveness of the journalist.

Stick to the core journalistic questions of who, why, when, where, what and how. Questions should be short and to the point. The more complex the question the more opportunities you offer the politician to avoid the main point.

Do not be afraid to continue to ask the same question repeatedly until you get a clear answer; having a couple of different ways to phrase it helps reduce the likelihood that the politician will get annoyed. However, if they do become angry, don’t let that bother you.

You will not be expected to be expert in everything a politician is involved in, but it is important that you have a solid understanding of the issues you are going to be pressing them on.

You certainly need to know your history, and you need to make sure that you know what you are talking about and that the questions you ask are well researched.

4: Don’t be sidetracked or derailed

It is so easy to be steered away from the crucial question. Once the journalist has lost his or her cool, they have lost the interview.

A politician who is on the ropes may lash out in order to force you on the defensive. They may be trying to guide you into a discussion they want to have, rather than discuss the issues you want to address. Do not be taken in by that, it’s a trap. Return to the question you want to ask.

Always steer clear of personal insults and never enter into a slanging match where you end up shouting at one another. Once that happens, the interview (although probably highly entertaining for the audience, and likely to end up on YouTube and be virally marketed globally) has lost its power as a tool for informing the public debate. You and the politician will have probably damaged your integrity. It will reflect badly on your news organisation, too.

An interview with a politician should be a sincere attempt to uncover information to help your audience understand more about current issues. It’s not a battle of wits between you and the politician. It’s not about scoring points. Nor is it about making you look smart in front of your peers and friends.

5: Don’t do deals

It may seem obvious, but you must never go into an interview with a politician with any form of agreement, explicit or implicit. There must be no mutual understanding that both sides will get something out of the interview. This is corrupt and goes against the core elements of journalism.

It is fine for a politician to try to do this in order to ensure that they achieve what they set out to achieve; that’s what politics is all about. But you have to be above this. It is an integrity issue.

There must never be any suggestion that the course of the interview can be mapped out in advance. The only thing you can agree beforehand is the length of the interview and even that introduces limitations that could prevent you getting to the truth.

6: They will have a script

As you prepare for the interview you will have thought through the areas you want to cover and may have written down the questions you want to ask. The politician will probably have done the same.

It’s likely that they will have had several working sessions with spin doctors (political advisors), and will be briefed on exactly what message they want to broadcast via your interview.

Political organisations spend a fortune on hiring media training consultants who coach politicians to avoid answering questions and ensure that they get their message and points across no matter what questions are asked. There is a big business in manipulating the media. Often, such training is carried out by former journalists, so the politicians may be well prepared, not necessarily for giving you the information you seek, but in ensuring they stay on political message.

You can be fairly sure this has happened when you hear the answer to your questions starting with, “Well that is an interesting point, but the main issue here is…” or, “I am glad you asked me that, but you have to remember that the real reasons behind this are…”

These, and many other answers that attempt to take the initiative for the interview away from the journalist, suggest that the politician is primed and ready to use your interview as a party political broadcast and not as a vehicle for informing the audience.

There will be no doubt that the politician has a script in their head. They will know the end result they are required to achieve that will reflect well on them and their party. They will have a final line (the last word) that they will want to push, regardless of the questions you have asked.

However, you are not there to help them with their PR (public relations) campaign. You are a journalist whose job is to get to the truth.

All political parties will have spin doctors, those public relations people and political backroom staff whose job it is to ensure that the party message gets out no matter what the opportunity; your interview will be viewed by them as just that – a political opportunity.

Never think you will be more prepared than them, this is naive and foolish. You need to go into a political interview knowing that sitting behind the politician is a news management team who will have done this hundreds of times and will have used journalists like you to achieve their ends.

7: Keep an open mind

Although it is important to know what you are going to ask (as explained above), it is also important to go into the interview with an open mind. It’s a delicate balancing act to go prepared with a set of questions, and yet still retain the flexibility needed to be alert to some new information that you didn’t know before. This will, of course, mean that you will need to be on top of the subject.

You will need to have done your research to the point where you are comfortable heading down a line of questioning that, although not planned or expected, will help uncover more information that will be of use to your audience.

If the politician feels that you are afraid of deviating from a rigid line of questioning, they may sense this is a weakness and try to exploit it. Once they do, they will have taken control of the interview and all your efforts could well be hijacked for the purposes of PR or, even worse, propaganda.

You should aim to discover something new through the process. You can’t do that if you doggedly stick to your script.

8: Don’t let them dodge the question

There are many ways for a politician to avoid the question being asked. A couple have been mentioned above. It’s important for the journalist conducting the interview to know when this is happening. The interviewer needs to know when it is right to hold back. It is often clear to the audience that a question is being avoided. You may not need to keep pressing.

Make sure that you have prepared questions that cover all the main issues. You will probably not get to ask them all, and you will almost certainly not get clear answers to all.

Decide which are the most important and ask them first so that if you run out of time, and broadcast interviews are far more likely to suffer from this than print interviews, you can be sure to have covered the main points.

Never leave the best questions for the end of the interview, just in case you run out of time.

9: Try to understand the politician’s motivation

Despite the news management issue, the politician is a human being and an individual with one particular need – retaining the support of the public in order to continue to keep his or her job. So, no matter how prepared and primed they are for the interview, they will also be vulnerable on some points. And they will be keen to make a good impression.

The journalist needs to understand this because, with careful wording of questions, by following up on some of the leads they give you, by exploring some of the topics they seem to want to explore, and by engaging them with an understanding tone and approach, you may be able to dig deeper in the areas that you feel the audience needs to know about.

You may get a lot further with a softer, sympathetic approach rather than with a hard, confrontational approach. This all depends on the situation and the politician. But it’s important to be flexible.

Remember, the point of the exercise is not to make you look great and the politician look small, it’s to uncover essential information that informs the public debate so that the audience can make educated choices.

10: Ensure that the last word informs the public

Does the politician get the last word, or do you? The last word is a precious element to any interview. A politician will want to sum up at the end of the interview. They will want the last answer to be a well-rehearsed sound bite.

One way round this is to ensure that you sum up at the end with the main points. To do this you need to listen to all their answers, take notes, keep a bullet-point summary and repeat it at the end. It is also a good idea to jot down relevant quotes that you can return to at the end in order to illustrate your summary.

Good luck and stay strong. And always keep at the front of your mind that with focused, non-confrontational, patient and well researched questions you just might uncover a fact that “had it not been for you, the world would never have known”.

Related training modules

The relationship between journalists and politicians

Preparing for and carrying out an interview

The post How to interview politicians first appeared on Media Helping Media.