Press/Media freedom internationally

(http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/press/images/press_illusation.jpg)(http://www.unesco.org/webworld/wpfd/prize.html).
(http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html). (http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/blogguide.jpg). (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Reporters_Without_Borders_2007_Press_Freedom_Rankings_Map.PNG).
(http://www.wan-press.org/article.php3?id_article=390) (http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?country=/KW0001/KW0002/KW0018/&year=2003) (http://www.pressombudsman.ie/v2/presscouncil/images/PCIandPOJan08.jpg)

The most useful questions in journalism
Who, where, when, how and why is important. To help get these:
Do not ask long questions
Do not simply ask “how do you feel?” as this will probably cause a typical and uninteresting response.
Ask “and then what happened?” to learn what happened in chronological order.
Ask “how do you know that?” as, by doing this, you will receive reassurance that the interviewee knows what they are talking about.
Ask “do you know anyone who can confirm that?” If they do not, they are probably lying.
Ask “what do you make of it all?” This is an unbiased way to receive opinions form your interviewee.
Ask “what’s it like…” This is an open question that will provoke an interesting response.
Ask “and?” This may cause a person to elaborate more and what they were saying.

Questioning uneasy sources
Journalists can be intimidating. The best way to get an interview is:
Be friendly
To ‘cold-call’ if the person is completely opposed to an interview. This is arriving somewhere were the interviewee will be unannounced, basically forcing them to answer your questions.

To get the most information you can form your interviewee:
Think about where to speak to them and that they will be comfortable in the location that you choose.
Adapt to them. You may need to change your personality and/or clothing style a little bit to help your interviewee feel more comfortable.
Make a judgement of your interviewee. Decide what the best way to treat them is that will help them to trust and confide in you
Ask for their life story. This will show them that you are interested in what they have to say and consequently get them to open up to you more.

Interviewing principles, techniques and practices for:



Print media:

• Before you meet the subject, prepare yourself. Make sure that you know a bit about your interviewee and the topic that you will be interviewing them about.


• Write your questions carefully. Make sure that they are concise and easy to understand. As well as this, only ask open question, which are questions that require more than a yes or no answer and can be expanded on by the interviewee.


• Before the interview, you may want to give your subject a list of questions you may ask them. This will give them an idea of what to expect and also help them to feel more comfortable.


• Choose a location for the interview where the subject will feel relaxed. Ensure that you are polite. This will make the interviewee more open and honest with you.


• Have a casual conversation with your subject before you start the interview to help them to feel at ease. Do not use leading questions or bias during the interview.


• Take notes on what the interviewee says and also any other relative information, such as the setting and the subject's body language, that may add interest to the article.


• Make sure the subject is comfortable throughout the interview. This will help them to give more interesting and in-depth responses to your questions.


• At the end of the interview ensure that you have the subject’s contact details in case you need a follow-up interview.


• Ensure you have your interviewee’s name spelt correctly.

Internet :

• Internet interviews are useful when the interviewee is quite shy. When answering questions on the computer rather than in person they may be willing to give you more information.


• Before the interview starts, remind your interviewee that grammar and spelling is important as what they write may be taken directly from the email and put into quotes in the article.


• Do not write in capital letters. This goes against netiquette, and translates to shouting.


• Make sure the email address you are using to question the interviewee is from a reliable source. As you cannot see the person, you cannot be completely sure of their identity.


• Word your interview questions carefully as you cannot quickly reword the question if the interviewee does not understand the question properly.


• Follow up the email interview with a phone call to make sure that identity of the individual that you interviewed is who you thought they were.


• With internet interviews, you cannot rely on spontaneous questions making the interview more interesting. Instead, make sure that the questions you ask will provide interesting responses.


• Be especially careful not to misquote, as the interviewee will have a record on their computer of exactly what they wrote.

Radio:

• Plan your interview questions before the interview takes place.


• Tell you interviewee a few days prior to the interview what you will be questioning them about, so that they can prepare.


• Before you go on air, write you introduction to the story. Make sure that what you are going to be talking about is clear and that it sounds interesting to the listeners.


• Stay relaxed. This will help your interviewee to feel more at ease, consequently improving the interview as a whole.


• Make sure that you are courteous and polite. If not, you will offend the interviewee and get a bad reputation from your audience.


• Make sure the interview stays on track with what you spoke about in the introduction.


• Do not use jargon and explain what the meaning is to your audience if your interviewee uses it.


• Stick to your time schedule.

Television:

• Do not wear too much jewellery or flashy clothing that will take attention off what is being said.


• Wear makeup that is waterproof so that it is able to withstand perspiration.


• Tell the interviewee to look at the interviewer rather than the camera, and do this yourself.


• Make sure that you and your interviewee are comfortable. Maybe provide a glass of water in case your interviewee’s voice gets sore or tired during the interview.


• Make sure you maintain a good posture throughout the interview to look your best on camera.


• It is very important for the interviewee to know what types of questions are being asked before the actual interview, so that they are not stunned into silence whilst they are on air.


• Do not sit between interviewees where you will have to move your head to look at each of them.


• Speak clearly to ensure that both the audience and the interviewee understand what you are saying.


• Don’t interrupt and interviewee. As well as stopping the interviewee from saying what they want to say, this will look bad from the audience’s persepctive.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=32&aid=20417 www.ots.ca.gov/grants/files/pdf/interview%20techniques%203-08.pdf http://www.community-media.com/interview.html http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4005 http://www.community-media.com/interview.html
http://www.radiodiaries.org/handbook4.html
http://www.tpub.com/content/photography/14129/css/14129_125.htm

Questioning Techniques

5/8/08
Don’t let them bullshit you
• Make them explain their jargon
• They often use euphemisms to camouflage reality e.g. “Passenger underflow” really means that people won’t fly with that airline
• Institutions dealing dangerously often use euphemisms to hide things. At 3 mile island there was an accident at a nuclear power plant. Representatives used various euphemisms such as “abnormal evolution” to try and hide what really happened.
• Ask what these phrases mean!

Listen to the answers
• Don’t only pay attention to what you are going to ask next— listen to what is being said by the interviewee
• Ten minutes later is too late to realise that something important was said by your interviewee and you may not be able to question them about it again.

Dare to ask the cheeky question
• Build up to the question
• Do ask blunt and personal question
• This may provoke black look, but will hopefully provide an answer
• Ask question open and spontaneously to try to cause an outburst or answer

Stop people rambling
• Do not just tell them you are short of time
• Advice from John Brady is to the ramblings with something trivial (e.g. parking or weather) then ask the question you want answered

Review questions and answers at the end• After interview look over all answers. This is for two purposes:
o See if you discover any information gaps
o To get more information from person

Never make promises of how the story will be treated• Only the editor will know how the story will turn out
• You cannot answer as you do not know
• Say you are just reporter and give the interviewee your editor’s name and number

Peter Bradbury:

Basic interviewing
• Asking someone questions for a newspaper story is a special skill. It may at times resemble a conversation, but it is not one. It may at times be entertaining to overhear or participate in, but that is not its point.
• Questioning people for newspapers has one purpose: to collect information that is especially detailed and not, as some poor reporters think, to get a few quotes.
• Interviews are not scripted, so be prepared for unexpected answers.
• Interviews can be long and pedantic affairs, whilst you try and get the question you want answered or understand something.
• Interviews are not a time for you to tell officials what you think of them, show off your knowledge, or take part in a debate with your interviewee.
• Interviewing is quite straightforward, but there are two major implications.
1. Questioning those who are uneasy and reluctant to talk, and;
2. Questioning those who are elusive, evasive, or hostile.
Techniques to overcome these problems will be presented later on.

Guidelines involved in talking to your interviewee:
• Before approaching them for the interview, you have to get them to agree to talk
• Don’t call it an interview as this can may cause interviewee to be uneasy as the word reminds them of police and job interviews. Say you’d like to chat or learn something from them.
• Get them to want to help you:
• When interviewing, treat the interviewee as if you are talking to an interesting person at a party. Remain open, sunny and interested in both them and what they have to say.
• DO MORE LISTENING THAN TALKING!
• Do not come with an “I am a reporter attitude” as you want people to want to help you
The Gatekeeper
• Gatekeepers are those like secretaries, assistants and personal assistants who are determined to protect their boss from the outside world.
• Do not introduce yourself by saying “Hello my name is ________ and I am from_________ and I insist on talking with________.
• Be open and friendly and use your Christian name.
• Do not be specific on your interview topic. Be fairly vague so that the gatekeeper cannot say no to your topic.
• Try saying that ________ recommended your interviewee to you. Connections are important.

Research beforehand
• Research beforehand and know what you want to find out in the interview and know the final shape of what you want your story to be.
• Always carry a notebook to jot down quick notes.
• Do not be afraid to show ignorance, but ensure that you have researched adequately before the interview.
• Before the interview learn about the subject and other relevant information
• Let them know that they are talking to someone who takes them and their subject seriously
• Use simple questions (5W 1H). No trick or clever questions should be used.
In stories about events
• Build a step-by-step account of what happened. To do this, especially when the subject is shocked or traumatised, to take them slowly through the events.
1. First start with the last normal event
2. then take them slowly through what happened after that,
3. Make sure that they include the sights, sounds and smells that they felt in detail in the order that they occurred.
• By the end of your interview, make sure that you are able to picture the exact events in your head. If you can’t, how are you supposed to tell your readers what happened?