Lecture Week 5: Interviews
Before class today, I realized that we only had the next two weeks to do PB3 and the only thing I had done for it was speaking with my subject and make sure they were into the idea. With this bolt of anxiety in me I decided to type up a quick email to my subject with a quick overview of the project, queries into what time this week would be best for us to do the interview and a list of pre-interview questions that were intentionally broad so I would be able to work off of them and maybe give the portrait a bit more direction or a particular focus.
In the Lecture today, we discussed in depth how to go about Interviews to make sure they are successful, and how important subject participation is. I was also quite happy to see that the steps I have taken so far are ones that were suggested (briefing the interviewee and doing some research prior to the interview.
As someone who has dabbled in an interview-based podcast, having a participate who simply can’t answer questions is something I have experience with first hand. I started podcasting for one because I am a huge fan of the medium and two because I thought it would be a great excuse to speak to people I found interesting.
When I attempted my first Interview I chose a person I had a friendship with , someone I was comfortable with, and someone who was comfortable with me. Someone I knew would be able to articulate good answers and be able to work some of my maybe poorly phrased questions as a first timer.
When I attempted my second interview it was with Sarah Jane Adams. A woman I had no relation to and at that time lived in another country (she’s based in Sydney) and I only knew of her based on her ‘insta-fame’. Luckily as I was still a beginner, and quite nervous throughout the interview she ended being a wonderful subject. She gave long answers and told stories and probably never would have stopped talking and giving me topics to follow up on if there hadn’t been a time constraint.
When it came to my third interview I was going to do I chose a woman I had heard on NPR’s Snap Judgement, a poet and storyteller. I was careful to use open-ended questions but no matter how I phrased a question the response I would receive from her would be short and give me nothing to work off of. The phone interview lasted about 17 minutes and none of it was usable.
What Louise said today about choosing your interviewee carefully and knowing when it’s just not going to work really resonated with me and made me feel a bit better about my interview-gone-wrong. As someone who does wish to work in news to some degree, I am very excited to grow my interview skills!
