A question on interview questions
October 4, 2007Preparing for the interview with my subject I was faced with an ethical dilemma. Am I, or am I not allowed to ask leading questions? Especially since we are trying to make the soundslides as ‘interesting’ as possible? Is there a degree to which I can push the envelope or is it just a plain old “No”?
What was interesting to me was, since I was focusing so much on the subject I was not thinking too much about what (the ethics of) questions I was going to ask.
So, I would definitely like to bring this up in class to know if there is a right or wrong answer.
Also, here is something from today’s reading http://www.visualedge.org/lessons/SoundStory.pdf “Don’t put words in people’s mouths. During an interview, you can ask someone to repeat something and speak in a full sentence, but remember that your job is to elicit a story, not build one based on your own preconceived notions. Don’t stage events.”
Does that mean the right answer is no?
Interesting question. I think that, as a journalist, you absolutely can ask leading questions (you’re a journalist, not a trial attorney). In fact, you want to ask questions that lead to complete, interesting answers. The place you get into rocky areas is when you ask questions that lead to only one possible answer, or that contain an answer within them.
It’s possible to craft a set of questions such that the interview subject becomes a ventriloquist dummy for the interviewer’s opinions, and that has to be avoided. You’re talking to the subject because you think they have something interesting to say to the story. Let them say it, in their words. It’s the journalist’s job to make sure that the questions lead the subject to address the story, rather than just speak at random. Once you’ve done that, let the subject tell their own story, in their own words.
Finally, recognize that some folks are just not great interview subjects. If they persist in monosyllabic responses, off-topic discourses, or persistent mumbling, then thank them for their time and move on. There’s almost always someone else to talk with.
I have had some similar thoughts while preparing for the audio portion of my story. I was trying to think of questions that could result in an interesting story arc, but I caught myself thinking a little bit too hard about it and coming up with ideas that might have resulted in the subject becoming a ventriloquist dummy like Curt mentioned. I had to pull back a little bit.
There is definitely a good middle ground. I’m doing my story on the free bike repair service on campus. I don’t want my questions to be too general; it could get boring quickly, but I also don’t want to come in to the interview with my story arc planned and try to make the subject follow my course.
The audio 1 assignment in class is the only time I have edited an audio interview before. I found it very difficult to cut it down to 90 seconds, which is good. I feel like it only leaves time for the most interesting and relevant information. I’m hoping I’ll have the same problem with my Soundslides audio!
I agree with Curt, questions should lead the interview subject to respond on topic. I had an interesting situation with my interview last Thursday. I actually came into the interview expecting to come out with one story, but I left with a new spin on my topic.
My story was about transportation on campus and why many students are opting to use scooters. So I thought my questions would lead the subject to say why scooters were better than other modes of transportation like the bus or driving a car. I got those answers. The student talked about how great scooters were, but he also shined light on the challenges students face with parking scooters on campus.
I think it’s definitely helpful to know the topic of your story when you go into the interview(especially when writing or creating short pieces), but being flexible can be very beneficial as well. Sometimes unexpected or “off-topic” responses can lead a journalist to see the story from a unique perspective or to a story that’s entirely different and still worthwhile.
It’s interesting to think that by saying “a leading question” you might mean “one that leads the speaker to give the answer that the journalist wants,” but you might also think it means “leading the speaker to open a whole new subject.”
So in the interest of clarity …
You do need to lead the person to talk about what you want to hear ABOUT. But what they say on the subject is up to the interviewee. I think the worst kind of question begins with: “Don’t you think that …”
You choose the topics. They provide the details. Try to keep your own opinions out of it. This is NOT a conversation. And interview is about getting the other person to tell stories and explain things.
I will do the interview tomorrow and I am preparing for the question now. I get some good tips by reading this blog and comments.
Many times we have a story outline before we do the interviews, in the hope that the interviewee will provide some details to make the story more substantial and interesting. But sometime, if we ask good questions, we can get surprise from the interviewee by getting a much better story than we imagined.
In my experience, asking short questions may be better than ones, for people may be weary to listen to the reporter’s opinion.Also, beginning with easy-answer questions may make the interviewee more willing to open up. Then the reporter can move to more emotional questions or personal question.