by James Zipadelli

Created on: May 10, 2009

Interviews are the cornerstone of any story. Interviewing someone is not easy, but here are some tips to make the process easier.

-Know who you're interviewing.

I mean this in three ways. First, journalists should know as much of the background of the person they are interviewing as possible. Second, it's important is to understand the person's role in the organization. For example, interviewing

President Obamaabout the H1N1 "swine flu" virus is one option, because he's the President, but the officials that would know the most about the virus are from the Centers for Disease Control. The acting head of the organization is Dr. Richard Besser, who answered questions about the virus during several news conferences. However, the story doesn't have to be of national significance. Let's suppose the reporter is writing a story about a new development being built in town. Interviewing the person in charge of the development is one option, but the project managers and engineers would give the reporter a more realistic assessment of when the development would be completed and the cost of the development. Conducting the interview with the inappropriate person is a waste of time, both for the person being interviewed and for the reporter.

Finally, it's important to consider the people in the story. Interviewing public officials, like politicians, is easier because they have experience being interviewed by the press. If your sources are private citizens, then they will have less experience being interviewed and less confidence in the reporter. I wrote a story on greyhounds once because there was an upcoming ballot question in Massachusetts about whether to ban greyhound racing. I needed to find people that owned greyhounds as pets. Make sure that the citizens know what your story is about and where they will be quoted. Give them your contact information if they have questions.

-Don't be intimidated.

This point bears repeating. Projecting confidence to a source is essential to conducting a good interview. It means that you, the reporter, conduct the interview and ask the questions that you have time to ask. If you know your subject and the topic, this helps. If you don't, or if you are intimidated, chances are you won't get another opportunity to interview the person again.

-Be flexible.

Your source should be able to contact you in a way that feels comfortable to them. Give them your email address, office and cell phone if you have them. I like to have face-to-face

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