News Reporting & WritingInterviewing & Quoting

Interview process

Story idea

Plan & Prepare

Look & Listen

Review & Reorder

Step 1: Plan & PrepareBackground research

Draft questions

Questions you think your reader would want to know the answer to

Open-ended questions, not yes/no questions

Questions about hobbies, family, soft topics

Step 2: Look & ListenEach answer will suggest additional questions

Listen not just to what your interviewee says, but how he/she says it

Contradictions, hesitation, silence, nervousness, roving eyes all suggest need for follow-up

Look around you! And note it down.

Take good notes, but stay focused on interviewee

Step 3: Review & Reorder

Review your notes to ensure you have complete quotes

Reorder and prioritize the quotes

Review the audio tape, if available

Use “time stamps” in your notes

Interview strategy

Most people love to talk about themselves, or things they care about (hobbies, politics, their children)

Use these topics to open up interviews

Many people mistrust or are afraid of reporters

Be polite, respectful & professional – show them you’re a decent human being!

Ask open-ended QsHow did you feel when...?

Why did you decide to...?

What was it like to...?

X Were you happy when...?

X Do you think you made the right choice?

X When did you stop beating your wife?

Interview strategy – 2Keep interviews conversational - it’s an interview, not an interrogation

You have to gain someone’s trust before you can gain their information

Ask your question and then wait patiently

Silence can be a good way to get people to talk!

Always ask: “Can you give me an example of that?”

Always ask: “Is there someone else I should speak to?

Mencher’s 12 Interview Ground Rules

Identify yourself at the beginning

State the purpose of the interview

Make sure the source knows how the information will be used

Tell the source how long the interview will take

Keep it as short as possible

Ask specific questions that the source is competent to answer

SOURCE: MELVIN MENCHER’S NEWS REPORTING & WRITING, 7TH EDITION

Mencher’s 12 Interview Ground Rules

Give the source time to reply

Ask the source to clarify complex or vague answers

Read back answers if requested or when in doubt of the phrasing

Insist on answers if the public has a right to know them

Avoid lecturing and arguing

Abide by non-attribution requests

Quoting

Use quotes that are full sentences and complete thoughts

Partial quotes can be open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding

Your sources are the experts, so let their words do the talking

Every quote must be attributed to a specific person

Using quotes in storiesIf a word or phrase is in quotation marks, it must be something someone said exactly as they said it

Quotes can be split if they consist of more than one sentence

“It was a Monday,” he said. “I remember it well.”

Start a new paragraph for a new quote

Brackets & Ellipses

Use brackets to mark [paraphrases] inside quotes

Use an ellipsis to show where you have ... cut words from inside a quote

Use both sparingly

• CEO of the Recording Academy Neil Portnow addressed the issue of stars being left out backstage at the awards show Sunday, saying that the "In Memoriam segment is a conundrum.” "It's sad, we keep a list," Portnow went on. "This year over 200 people [have passed] so we have to make a selection at the end.

• "After Japan are the fragile European countries that are in very dire straits: Greece, Ireland and Portugal ... Spain and Italy, too, but their problems are of a different order," Ghezzi said.

Set up your quotes

Some quotes, or the perspective of speakers, need to be explained to the reader in advance

Think about what information your reader will need in order to understand the quote

Who or what does it refer to?

Definition of any new or unusual words?

Context?