In an interview the participants are not equal; the protagonist is in charge of the interview. The interviewer only helps the protagonist to open up or reveal the subject. How – each journalist decides for himself in a specific situation. Some use elements of a conversation where the interviewer expresses his point of view as an equal with the interlocutor, some use elements of interrogation, some prefer to build a conversation subtly so that the person trusts them and makes contact, others like provocation. The effectiveness of a particular technique depends on the type of media, the subject of the interview, the personality of the hero and the intuition of the journalist.
Now a little theory, but not much at all.
Types of interviews
- Portrait interviews, when the main purpose is to show a character and personal qualities of the interviewee, his attitude towards something, most often such interviews are done with famous people;
- Analytical when the interviewer and the interviewee are looking at a certain issue from different angles, for example, the impact of parasites on the human nervous system;
- Problematic – these are constructed around a high-profile public event, a striking example is the debate of politicians before the elections in a live broadcast;
- Informative: when it is important to get only facts and figures, for example, the number of victims, the strategy of rescue services, etc.
Of course, all these types of interviews can overlap. No one is forcing the journalist to work within rigid limits. Moreover, an interview is first of all a set of techniques, the more effective the journalist is.
Where to look for an interview subject
Let’s imagine that you have never been interviewed before, but you want to. Pay attention to what you know or at least what you are interested in: it could be computer games and board games, it could be contemporary art, it could be science in general. That’s a good enough starting point.
Keep it in your head. It remains to find a hero and formulate the topic more precisely. A qualified interlocutor who can speak coherently and who wants to talk to a journalist is already half the battle of the interview.
Surf the Internet
Next, it is important to narrow down your search. At this stage it is useful to look through thematic pubs and Telegram-channels: it is likely that you will find something of value. Maybe you’ll see someone working on a potentially useful project, maybe you’ll discover a trend that you can then discuss with an expert, maybe you’ll come across a problem.
If you have found something, but you realize that a conversation with one person will be too short or will not reflect the topic in its entirety, you can make the material from monologues – essentially, it is several interviews on the same topic.
That is, you find people who have something in common: a rare profession, a common research topic, social status, physiological characteristics, a similar past, an unusual experience, etc. – you ask them roughly the same questions, then you remove your questions from the text, edit, and make it look as if each character had written a first-person letter of revelation.
But back to the classic interview. Let’s say you want to do an interview with scientists. First of all, go to the popular science posters. There you can find both the subject and the hero. If you want younger heroes, there are many higher education institutions in which students talk about each other.
What can I do in narrowly-specialized publics? If it’s a poster, you can find the hero and the theme right away. But in 90% of the cases, the theme will sound boring to non-specialists. But the hero may be appropriate.
Then you type in his name and read his scientific papers, watch his lectures on YouTube. Just do not rush to dive deep – run your eyes and decide for yourself whether this person is suitable for your media (say, there is “The Knife”, N+1, “Schrodinger’s Cat”, “Popular Mechanics” – they all write about science, but each in its own way).
Then make a note of roughly what you will be talking to your hero about. Don’t prepare questions until you and your hero have agreed on a conversation. It may happen that he will not answer you for one reason or another, and you will waste your time and energy.
Sometimes the opposite happens: the topic is interesting, and the hero doesn’t fit, or doesn’t exist at all – let’s say you just learned that the bacteria that live in your intestines can make you eat a cheeseburger. Then you realize you need to talk to a microbiologist.
When you find the hero, all you have to do is contact him or her. If the person isn’t on social media, his or her email is definitely listed on the website of the university where he or she works. If not, write to the school’s press office and ask for the person’s e-mail address.
Don’t be afraid that the potential hero of the interview will refuse you. In the three years I have worked, I have only been rejected once, and that was because the topic was narrow and the person who wrote the work was no longer engaged in it.
If you are still rejected, too, do not worry. Nothing terrible happened. You will find another hero.