Journalism Blog- Week 9

Chapter 9 - Interviewing, A core skill

1. Ideally I would use both: direct and indirect. However if the choice had to be made I would use the clear but inexact one as it is easier for the journalist to reword and use indirectly to make the audience understand what they are saying. Using the unclear one would reflect poorly on both the writer and the interviewee and I'm sure they wouldn't like to be projected in an embarrassing way.
2. I don't think it is ever justified to threaten anyone. It is unethical and against the Australian Journalists Code of Ethics. If you threaten anyone you can say goodbye to any future interviews and it certainly is not a good way to strengthen your contacts. I believe a journalist may try persuasion to get information but under no circumstances should they intimidate a source!
3. To a certain extent, yes it is a reasonable strategy. People are more likely to open up to a friendly person and someone they get along with. A comfortable social environment for an interview is very important and so having 'personal chemistry' on a professional level is beneficial. It is important however that journalists should never get too personally involved with a source or abuse the relationship established with their source. Crossing these professional boundaries to gain information is unacceptable and unethical.
4. Contempt. In some cases identities that have been revealed by the journalist have been murdered while others have lost jobs, families and their health. As reported by the Police lecture, the information the police reveal to the journalist serves the individuals involved for these reasons and the journalists usually cooperate with the police if they wish to keep their contact with the police.
5. The most inarticulate, word-mangling public figure regularly in the news at present is the president of the United States of America, George Bush. Although he is regularly seen making a blunder, a recent example and a more relevant example to Australians is his infamous blunders made when he was Australia for the APEC summit. A few of his blunders include referring to the APEC as OPEC, calling John Howard, Ron Howard and the Australian troops as Austrian troops. With the Australian efforts to become an ally to America, for the President of the Country to first not know what country he is in, what event he is attending and to recognise our efforts the question of his why we are trying so hard to prove ourselves to such an irresponsible and arrogant man of charge is questionable. I would not ‘clean up’ his quotes.

• Journalists must be able to interact well with people to get the information needed. Good interviewers ask the right questions at the right time, win the confidence of – and refuse to be intimidated by interviewees.
• Interviewing is the most common news – gathering tool but not necessarily the most trustworthy.
• Often people will under no obligation to provide information to the media. People lie, withhold the truth, provide misleading information, tell one POV.
• During an interview, journalists must:
  1) Take legible notes.
  2) Interpret comments.
  3) Think of the next question / series of questions.
  4) Be alert for a comment or follow – up question that might form the basis for an intro.
  5) Maintain some eye contact while also taking notes.
  6) Listen carefully for hints that there might be something much more to an interviewees knowledge than they are letting on, and also for inconsistencies which could indicate they are lying.
  7) Trust their intuition in developing perceptions about what is being said and the person saying it.
• I found it interesting that Mencher advises that ‘some stories require pressing sources to the point of discomfort or implying a threat should they fail to respond. Journalism often becomes the business of making people say what they would prefer to keep to themselves’ ( 1994, p304).
• A journalist has four ‘last resorts’ to a failure to respond:
  1) Try to reach the prospective interviewee via other telephones or e-mail: at home, at another work number or on a mobile phone.
  2) Try a third party. Sometimes it is necessary to avoid or give up on support staff and approach others – friends, family members, colleagues – who might recognise an interview’s importance and convey that to the prospective interviewee.
  3) Send an e-mail or facsimile noting the attempts made to secure an interview and state that the e-mail \ facsimile, will serve as proof of this.
  4) ‘Door stop’ the interviewee. This can mean waiting for hours outside for them. It often works because it is more difficult to avoid people in person.
• Record interviews to encourage exact quotations and for defence against allegations of misquotation. Must ask permission first. Also take notes! It is important to be aware of non – verbal cues and what they mean. At the end of an interview always ask a ‘safety net’ question such as: Is there anything else you would like to discuss? A journalist must remain calm, friendly, respectful and professional.
• While it is important not to get personally involved, an understanding, non – judgemental, and emphatic approach is required when interviewing.
• On the record-everything said and every document supplied can be used and attributed to the source who provided it.
• Off the record-the person supplying the info does not want to be quoted under any circumstances. It may also mean the source does not want the info used in any form. This must be clarified. It may be better just to say ‘a reliable source,’ if they will allow you to use the information.
• On background- this means no named individual can be quoted. The information can be used but only generally sourced.
• On deep background- the reporter may use the material but without any kind of attribution.
• Direct quotes- gives stories pace, character and variety. They should show action, reveal personality and demonstrate emotion. They can be corrected to avoid errors in grammar and word usage but that is all.