Customer Reviews

Interviewing: A Guide for Journalists and Writers

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There's an old journalists' saying - "you're only as good as your contacts", but in reality - "you're only as good as your interviews".

That's the subject of a new guide for journalists and writers which covers a broad range of topics and issues that comprise the art of interviewing.

'Interviewing' is written by two experienced Australian journalists: Gail Sedorkin, a journalism university lecturer and co-author of 'Get Your Message Across', who spent several years in newspapers and radio. Judy McGregor, a journalism professor, with 20 years experience as a newspaper reporter and editor.

The book is an essential guide to interviewing for both new and experienced scribes. It balances a plethora of tips, techniques and checklists with a variety of colorful and insightful anecdotes from some of the best known and highly regarded journalists in print and electronic media.

Some of the topics covered include:

* Types and styles of interviews (Vox pops, doorstops and ambushes, death knocks, rounds and events)
* Research
* Getting started
* Breaking the ice
* The questions
* Print and broadcast interviews
* Telephone and email interviews
* Handing the information (when to quote, naming sources)
* Legal and other issues (off the record, checkbook journalism, defamation, contempt of court)

While written principally for Australian and New Zealand writers, most of information and wisdom is universal, and supported by a number of Web site links.

'Interviewing' is a must-have reference book for all journalists and writers involved in researching and interviewing. Even if you think you know it all, this book will surprise you and inspire you.

-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit www.enterprisingwriter.com

Unfortunately there aren't too many books out there on journalist interviewing, so I took a swing at this one, and struck out. Although published in 2002, the content feels very old, very little about online journalism.

I learned nothing new in there, all the info is pretty much common sense, so it's more of a "for dummies" book.

It's very Australia/NZ-focused - so great if you're from that region, but otherwise you'll be clueless to the interviewers they mention.

Fortunately it's a short book.

There's a review of this book that says the book teaches nothing new to advanced, experienced journalists. I disagree.

As an associate editor of a national US publication, as well as a freelance writer/journalist/blogger/niche marketer ([...]) , having sharp journalism skills are required for success, especially when there's a blogger born every (nano)second.

Sedorkin outlines a several of the tools, tips, tricks and techniques I've intuitively picked up as a journalist and blogger over the past few years, and restructures them in an easy to digest format with enhanced details.

Much of my journalism and writing skills were personally developed via trial and error, and I've been working on developing a strategy to truly improve my game even better than ever - "upward progression in search of perfection" - and I think this book has definitely helped me.

One of the things I really would like to pride myself on is being able to consistently create a unique story. It's highly important to develop creative critical thinking skills as well as develop your ability to tap into the people you interview in an intuitive manner. There were many small tips and tricks - some of which you MAY learn working in the field, but many of which you won't that are covered. Notably, things like:

Intuitively developing angles on the spot to engage your interviewee
Improving your ability to skeptically question a source without making them defensive
Preparing your interview on a moment's notice
Controlling the flow of the information
Honing in on the questions and comments you use to get to the heart of a person and draw them out of their defenses

Overall, unless you're Robin Leach or have been doing this successfully for decades, you can never have too much information. I've gotten some incredible websites to further my strengthened knowledge on topics as well as offbeat resources I would not have otherwise found. One of the weaker aspects of this book is that it could veer off too much into profiling reporters a bit too much and that it's largely based on people in one or two regional areas - the UK and Australia... but overall it is an excellent resource. I'll be purchasing this book for reference on my Kindle Fire - when I finally buy one.