Sometimes interviewing doesn't go to plan. Even if you think you're asking the best questions to get the answers you want, there's no script that the interviewee has to follow for you. Learning the difference between an open question and a closed question certainly helps, one word answers are probably one of the least productive things in an interview, but it doesn't mean you'll immediately get the best answer even with the right question.
Definitely, learning how to interview properly helped. The sessions where I was taught how to interview and begin to practise the skills made me feel more confident, but there is so much to learn as you progress.
Chasing down interviews on a live news day really showed how interviewing is not cut-and-dry. You can have a story so perfectly planned and ready and it becomes much more difficult when the person you need doesn't reply. I enjoy interviewing and looking for people to further and improve my stories. I like the challenge of finding someone, and I think that interviewing is such a vital skill to have, so I always enjoy every chance to improve it.
On the flip side, when interviews go well, they're so satisfying. Talking to someone and getting to hear their story is such an underrated experience for me, I didn't expect to enjoy that aspect of journalism as much as I do. When you find someone who is almost perfect for a story, and get the answers you want and they give you great quotes, it makes me feel really accomplished. There are times where I have spoken to people and they've been incredibly helpful and they have given me so many useful quotes, and yet when I'm writing the story I wished I'd asked something else or changed an angle. I think that's something that, as I get through the course, I'll get much better at. It's definitely a learning curve when those things happen, and I will take those lessons on board as I go through my course and then through my career.
Interviewing is a skill that is important and it is obviously integral for journalism, and it is a part of it that I enjoy, having always been quite happy around people and enjoying talking to them, and it is always so important to me to develop my skills in this field.
Comments