You do your research. You plan your questions. But when the interview starts, do you really listen to what’s being said? If not, you might slip almost as badly as the “interviewer” in this old-time comedy skit:
Interviewing mistakes to avoid
Tag: Interviewing
Lessons from the movies
There are some universal truths about good journalism: It’s hard work and it’s vitally important in a democratic society. But it also can be hard to pigeonhole what it takes to produce good journalism, and that’s not a recent development.…
Sam Donaldson memories
After 41 years at ABC News, Sam Donaldson retired last week. I had the pleasure of competing against him during the 1980s when we both covered the Reagan White House. I shared the CBS News booth with Lesley Stahl and…
Confrontational interviews
Investigative reporters often have to interview people who don’t really want to talk. In a courtroom, they might be described as hostile witnesses. For journalists, especially in television, these kinds of interviews require a lot of preparation or choreography, as…
A successful reporter’s approach
He’s won three Pulitzer prizes, writes a regular column for the New York Times, and his non-fiction books sell like crazy. Okay, so Tom Friedman isn’t your average reporter, but a profile in the New Yorker magazine offers some insight…
Remembering Russert
Journalists everywhere are mourning the loss of NBC’s Tim Russert, one of the really good guys in the TV news business. Full disclosure: Tim was my husband’s boss. He wasn’t just a tenacious questioner as moderator of Meet the Press.…
Ask more questions
Sam Donaldson, who has spent most of his long career at ABC News covering politics, said he’s “apprehensive” about some of the campaign coverage on radio and television this year, suggesting that journalists haven’t been tough enough in questioning the…
Find the action
Reporters who want to follow the action in a story need to know where to find it. You can’t tell a captivating, narrative story if you’re not present to capture the action. But how do you know when it’s going…