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News Reporting &
Writing
Interviewing & Quoting
Interview process
Story idea
Plan & Prepare
Look & Listen
Review & Reorder
Step 1: Plan & Prepare
Background 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 & Listen
Each 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 Qs
How 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 – 2
Keep 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 stories
If 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?