One conducts his interviews on national television. The others often conduct theirs in the locker room. In the articles below, Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' "Face the Nation," and four sports writers from the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise offer advice on getting the most out of an interview.
Bob Schieffer: The Meta-InterviewBy Matt Thompson
Every Sunday, Bob Schieffer gets to pose questions to the political heavyweights of America on CBS' "Face the Nation." I called him up to ask him a few. Selected wisdom from our interview follows.
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The Bare Facts of InterviewingBy Jim Alexander
The locker room interview is probably different from anything seen in other forms of journalism.
You don't interview Donald Rumsfeld as he's buttoning his shirt following a cabinet meeting. Nor do you approach Russell Crowe or Julia Roberts to get their thoughts as they change clothes after another day's filming. Yet sportswriters are expected to churn out copy on teams and players they've interviewed under similar conditions.
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The Zen of Interviewing
By Dan Weber
As a sportswriter, I've come to understand that the interview may be the most creative and original thing I do. Writing for a newspaper, if done right, is a collaborative affair with editors, and sometimes even designers, and rightly so. But interviewing, in all its forms, is all me, and I love it. It challenges all my creativity and ingenuity. It calls upon all my experience in the business.
That's because much as I may seem the same to someone on the outside, it's always different. Sure, there are press conferences and group gab sessions where beat writers, columnists, radio, and TV folks all do their thing. Coaches and players often respond with the practiced, unthinking, unblinking answers that get them through the day.
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Some Useful Interview Techniques
By Joe Hamelin
- Always use a tape recorder. Explain to the subject, if need be, that no one will hear it but you.
- Take notes, too. Tape recorders sometimes malfunction.
- Do your homework. A subject will warm to you when realizing you've taken the trouble to be informed.
- If you can, find someplace quiet where you won't be interrupted and steer the subject there.
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The Internet as a Free-Form Art
By Jim Short
Let the interview write the story instead of doing the interview to support your own theory or viewpoint. Obviously, it's necessary to have a story idea as a jumping-off point, but that shouldn't be so restrictive that the finished story has an unwarranted slant or offers an inadequate picture of the subject.
Listen to what the subject is saying, not just to what you want to hear. Listen to the changes in his/her vocal patterns; watch the eyes; be cognizant of changes in demeanor. Then use these keys to unlock another subject. It may not be one that's germane to the story but it will get the subject talking freely — and that's a detour well worth taking.
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