An Examination of Journalistic Interviewing Competencies Serena Carpenter Anthony Cepak Zhao Peng
An Examination of Journalistic Interviewing
Competencies
Serena Carpenter Anthony Cepak Zhao Peng
SocialAnxiety
Most Applied Methoddominant source for information
Theoretical Unknownhmmm…...
Top-Ranked Skillout of a lot of journalism skills
JOURNALISTIC INTERVIEWING COMPENTENCIES
Source speaks 70-80% of the time Interpret the intended meanings Draw out both emotion and
information Sources resistant or eager to share
information Articulate common ground and
create intimacy with a source in minutes
big concept
Observed & disseminated crime & government information
the broadcast interview
Live studio interviews
Co-present
Repeat questions
and conflict
LISTENING
Ask follow-up questions
so this is what we teach
RESEARCH
Search for news clippings or stories
Search web
PROFESSIONAL DEMEANOR
Dress professionally
Be polite Arrive on
time
x
Communication Communication
competence Dialogic
communication principles
x
Health Patient-physician
communication & interview
Qualitative Method
Interviewing best practices
Law Police interviewing
competencies Police cognitive
interview
Sample Descriptives
JournalistsN=9
EducatorsN=11
Age 44 years 57 yearsExperience 10 years 20 yearsTeaching Experience 5 years
Gender 7 m 2 f 6 m 5 fMedium 7 print
2 broadcast6 print
5 broadcastJRN Degree 6 7
let’s overview some findings
Listening InteractionManagement Research Empathy
VerificationSelf-Presentation
Open-MindednessObservation News
Judgment
Articulation
let’s overview some findings
Listening InteractionManagement Research Empathy
VerificationSelf-Presentation
Open-MindednessObservation News
Judgment
Articulation
let’s overview some findings
Listening InteractionManagement Research Empathy
VerificationSelf-Presentation
Open-MindednessObservation News
Judgment
Articulation
let’s overview some findings
Listening InteractionManagement Research Empathy
VerificationSelf-Presentation
Open-MindednessObservation News
Judgment
Articulation
Backchannel Responses ProbesFollow-up
Questions
“A good interviewer really listens to what the subject is saying and asks follow-up
questions; good, pertinent, on-point follow-up questions. I think too often, particularly younger journalists, will go into an interview with a lot of
questions in mind and plow through their questions. And maybe miss an opportunity to dig deeper when the subject said something (#10).”
LISTENING
Question Sequencing
“Give them a softball."
Rapport Building
“Where they can be themselves.”
Conversational Norm Violation
“People look to fill silence."
Remain Calm“Always remain professional.”
Interaction Management
Research
Search engines Reading and watching news
stories and general content Consuming social media content Interviewing other news sources
“I think we’re so caught up in being the objective journalist and trying to seek the almighty objectivity, which is fantastic. But sometimes we let that hold us back sometime…It’s OKAY TO RESPOND to a shooting, and just say, ‘Hey, this is really sad. This is really tough. God, I can’t believe this.’ Even this little HUMAN RESPONSE to show that you’re not a robot (#20).”
Articulation
SHORTand
SWEET
“There are plenty of people who DON’T KNOW HOW IT WORKS, really. And I just don’t like to
assume that they do or not care they don’t know. I think if someone’s talking to a journalist, they need
to know exactly what they are getting into…You have to READ THE PERSON you’re approaching. Do they KNOW THE RULES OF THE GAME or do you need
to spend 30 seconds spelling things out? (#11).”
Articulation
“You want to BE APPROPRIATE. I mean, I go see a big time lawyer, I’m going to wear a necktie. If I’m going to cover a film festival, regular, like a dress casual sort of place. You go to a Harley Davidson festival in Sturgis, you’re probably going to wear jeans. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE OVERDRESSED to the point where people are going to make fun of you. Who is the numb nuts in the tie? (#5).”
Self-Presentation
Substantiate Interpretations
Hold Sources Accountable
VerificationDouble-Check Facts & Details
Acknowledge Limitations
“DON’T FORGET QUESTION. Pay attention to your own question, and make sure it GETS ANSWERED. Either forcefully or gently depending upon who you are talking to (#2).”
Verification
Observant
Mirror body language and vocal tone
Detect feelings
Observe non-verbal inconsistences
“You can observe things about their surroundings. If you interview someone in their home, you can see the types of things that they have in their home. If you interview them in your office, you can see again what types of things
they surround themselves with (#3).”
Observant
News Judgment Extract
quote-worthy (i.e., emotional, subjective, or opinionated) responses
Communicate the news topic of interest
Keep interview focused on news angle
“I also believe you have to think on your feet and react to the subject. So if you find that the subject is going down a certain path with more enthusiasm, follow up with that instead of sticking to your script. So that there’s a flow to the interview, and it’s not just, you finish the question, you go on to the next one (#8).”
News Judgment
Be open
Seek to understand the source’s viewpoints
Ask open-ended question to capture experiences
Non-judgmental
Ask non-biased questions
React non-judgmentally
Thank you!
I am SERENA CARPENTER with ANTHONY CEPAK and ZHAO PENG
You can find me at:@dr_serena [email protected]