Talk Straight, Listen Carefully

Interviewing is a vital tool for journalists. In Talk Straight, Listen Carefully, the authors and other seasoned journalists share their interviewing experience and explain how to successfully approach all types of people, extract information, and gain solid material.

Print and broadcast students and journalists will find far more than the standard interviewing tips, including:

• The qualitative differences between “hard news’ interviews and feature or profile story interviews
• Strategies for obtaining hard-to-get interviews
• Methods for managing unwilling, shy, hostile, and fearful sources Techniques for “interviewing on the run”
• Interview-related ethical questions and dilemmas
• Getting to sources beyond the initial interview
• Extracting color and human interest from an interview

Acknowledgments vii

The Need for an Interview and How to Get One 3

Preparing for the Interview 15

What Is Your Objective 33

Interviewing on the Run 47

Breaking Down the Barriers 64

The Phone: An Essential Tool 95

Interviewing for Features 109

Strategic Interviews 124

The Ethical Interviewer 146

Cleaning It All Up 176

Writing It All Down 185

Bibliography 205

"...an extensive, articulate guide....(The authors') combined wisdom and expertise show through, making Talk Straight, Listen Carefully a 'must' for anyone learning the craft of journalism." -Midwest Book review M. L. "Mike" Stein has more than 30 years experience as a journalist author, and educator. He teaches feature article writing at the University of California, Irvine, Extension Division; is former chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at New York University and the Department of Journalism at California State University, Long Beach; and is former West Coast Editor of Editor & Publisher.

Susan F. Paterno is associate professor of English and directs the journalism program at Chapman University in Southern California. A contributing writer to the American Journalism Review, she also has written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and U.S. News and World Report, garnering many awards for writing and reporting.

Interviewing is a vital tool for journalists. In Talk Straight, Listen Carefully, the authors and other seasoned journalists share their interviewing experience and explain how to successfully approach all types of people, extract information, and gain solid material.

Print and broadcast students and journalists will find far more than the standard interviewing tips, including:

• 
  
• The qualitative differences between “hard news’ interviews and feature or profile story interviews
  
• Strategies for obtaining hard-to-get interviews
  
• Methods for managing unwilling, shy, hostile, and fearful sources
  
• Techniques for “interviewing on the run”
  
• Interview-related ethical questions and dilemmas
  
• Getting to sources beyond the initial interview
  
• Extracting color and human interest from an interview