Section B

Choose the best title for each part of the text:

Telephone interviewing

Planning the interview

E-mail interviewing

Conducting the Interview

Tips for interviewers

A. __________________

A reporter evaluates information for its accuracy, fairness, newsworthiness and potential to make a readable story. During a reporting process you will look for facts, good quotes, substantiation and answers to five W’s – who, what, when, where, why – and also “how” and “so what”. One question should lead to another until you have the information you need.

B. __________________

The planning stages described here apply only to interviews that you need to set up in advance.

Research the background: check news clippings and available documents to familiarize yourself with the topic and the source. Check with secondary sources (friends and opponents) before or after you interview the subject of a story. Plan an interesting question to start your interview.

Identify your goals: What kind of information are you hoping to get? Is it factual or do you want reaction from the source? Get a general idea of why you need this source so you can explain briefly when you call for an interview.

Plan you questions: If the person refuses to see you when you call for an interview, you might be able to ask a few questions while you have the source on the phone.

Request the interview: Now you are ready to call for an appointment. The most important point is to plan ahead. Officials, educators and many other sources are busy people. They may not be able to see you on brief notice. Negotiate through a secretary, if necessary, be courteous and persuasive. You can also try contacting a source by e-mail to set up an appointment. Sate you name, affiliation and purpose.

Dress appropriately: Show your source respect by dressing neatly. If you are interviewing corporate officials or people in more formal business settings, you should dress as though you worked there.

Arrive on time: You could arrive 10 to 15 minutes early, but don’t arrive too early, because you could inconvenience people who are busy. And never come late.

C.________________

Interview questions can be classified as two types: closed-ended and open-ended. You need both types.

Closed-ended questions are designed to elicit brief, specific answers that are factual. They are good for getting basic information, such as name and title, yes or no answers, and answers to some of the who, where and when questions.

Open-ended questions are designed to elicit quotes, elaboration or longer responses. Follow-up your closed-ended questions with open-ended ones, such as why and how.

Keep your questions brief. A long lead-in to a question can confuse the source. Slow the pace between questions so you can take notes. Ask unimportant questions or ask for elaboration while you are writing down quotes.

D. _________________

Although interviewing people in person is preferable, it is often not practical, especially if you are on deadline. You won’t be able to observe facial reactions, gestures and surroundings when you conduct telephone interviews, but you still can gather information accurately and thoroughly.

The technique of telephone interviewing are very similar to interviewing in person. The major difference is that you have to work harder at keeping the source’s attention and focusing your questions. Researchers suggest that the average telephone interview should be limited to 20 minutes. After that, the attention span of the person responding wanes. If you call a source at home, he or she may be further distracted by children or other family concerns.

E. ____________________

Although e-mail is an effective tool for reaching sources, it is not as effective as interviewing by telephone or in person. But in some cases, it may be the only way you can get comments from a source. It has some other advantages. The source has time to think about his or her response. It also saves you from taking notes, and you can be assured of quoting the source accurately.

But e-mail interviewing precludes spontaneity and follow-up questions. You also can’t observe the source’s reaction and body language. Nor can you gather descriptive detail. If you must resort to a-mail interviewing, here are some tips:

- limit the number of questions,

- clarify your purpose,

- verify the source’s full name and title (e-mails do not always include the source’s proper name)

Exercises:

1. Complete the table with appropriate forms of the words where possible. The words in the table are from the text:

2. Look through the text again. What does the author say about the following:

- to evaluate (information)

- to do smth in advance

- close-ended / open-ended questions

- lead-in

- facial reactions

- attention span

- to be distracted

- spontaneity?

Interview a reporter from a local newspaper about his or her reporting techniques. Or choose a reporter whose stories you like, and interview him or her about reporting techniques.