Really appreciated this. Journalist-style interviewing is something I would like to do more of someday. One thing that has always somewhat annoyed me with interviews is how it can at times seem like the interviewer is "priming the pump" and asking leading questions to get a certain kind of answer or to frame the discussion. Did they tell you anything about that? Also, huzzah for your decision to write "less but more."
We did talk about different types of interviewees in an ethics lecture. Nothing super specific, but they made the point that if you’re talking to someone unused to dealing with the media, it’s your duty to protect them. As in—asking tricky questions may be ok if you’re dealing with a politician, but with someone more naive, you need to honor that naïveté. Your job is to communicate the truth, not focus on guffs.
There’s also an art to keeping your interview open but making sure you retain your control, especially with garrulous interviewees. It seems like you’re more on the open side of things!
The “sound bite” culture is very insincere. It’s especially frustrating in cases like the JD Vance “cat lady” quote when 2-mins of context totally changes one’s impression of his meaning. Amazing how much the media can manipulate how we interpret the facts.
Ha! Well, maybe it will still be a firehose, but instead of going constantly, it'll just blast on when someone actually decides to publish my stuff lol. I like writing on here so much that I've kinda slacked off on pitching other places...
Really appreciated this. Journalist-style interviewing is something I would like to do more of someday. One thing that has always somewhat annoyed me with interviews is how it can at times seem like the interviewer is "priming the pump" and asking leading questions to get a certain kind of answer or to frame the discussion. Did they tell you anything about that? Also, huzzah for your decision to write "less but more."
We did talk about different types of interviewees in an ethics lecture. Nothing super specific, but they made the point that if you’re talking to someone unused to dealing with the media, it’s your duty to protect them. As in—asking tricky questions may be ok if you’re dealing with a politician, but with someone more naive, you need to honor that naïveté. Your job is to communicate the truth, not focus on guffs.
There’s also an art to keeping your interview open but making sure you retain your control, especially with garrulous interviewees. It seems like you’re more on the open side of things!
The “sound bite” culture is very insincere. It’s especially frustrating in cases like the JD Vance “cat lady” quote when 2-mins of context totally changes one’s impression of his meaning. Amazing how much the media can manipulate how we interpret the facts.
But I like drinking from your firehose…
Ha! Well, maybe it will still be a firehose, but instead of going constantly, it'll just blast on when someone actually decides to publish my stuff lol. I like writing on here so much that I've kinda slacked off on pitching other places...