Points: 40 ~ Due: May 18
Note: special late penalty for interview. It must be turned in within ten minutes of the start of class. NO INTERVIEW WILL BE ACCEPTED LATE. NO EXCEPTIONS. DON'T ASK. (DON'T EVEN THINK OF ASKING.)
The Assignment: Select someone who has relevance to your annotation topic. Prepare a list of questions, interview the person for 20 minutes, and write up a report of the interview. The report should have three parts:
- an introductory paragraph
- a transcript
- a self-evaluation of your performance.
Advice for the Interview. Keep the interview short. Phone interviews are allowed, but you'll probably get more from the experience if you can meet a source face to face. E-mail interviews are not allowed, but live chat interviews are. If possible, record the interview. This will make it easier to write the transcript and to reflect on your performance. (The Broadcast Lab has a few machines to lend. Also, Staples and Walmart sells recorders for about $15. If you plan to stay in journalism, why not get one?)
Advice for Introductory Paragraph. It should explain how this person is relevant to your topic and what your focus for the interview is (how it differs from your main focus).
Your source does not have to be an expert with a national reputation, although you're welcome to try to get someone of that caliber. You may even use a family member or close personal friend, but I’d advise against doing this if you have alternatives. It’s difficult to be objective with people you are close to, and friends may not treat you with the same respect that a stranger would.
Think of a focus specific to this interview. It should reflect the source’s expertise, so it should differ from your own topic focus. Prepare a list of questions around this focus before the interview, but mentally be prepared to abandon that list.
Advice for the Transcript. The transcript should be your questions and answers exactly as you asked them, except edit them to get rid of the ums, ahs, odd repetitions, grammar slips, etc.
Advice for the Self-evaluation. It should describe strengths and weaknesses of your performance and reflect upon the experience. Specifically, what questions really worked; which questions would you add or skip; how would you follow up? Take your weakest questions and reword them as you wish you'd said them. Comment on what you learned from the interview or felt during it. Praise yourself, of course, but explain why you were so wonderful. Also, since the perfect interview has never yet been conducted by anyone human, it might be diplomatic to mention a weakness or two.
Links You'll Need
Readings
Journalism.org's Interviewing Page