Journalists’ common sense in interviewing

1. Journalist’s common sense and skills in interviewing

1. Curiosity and Doubt Curiosity is the source of obtaining news clues. Curiosity is the driving force to collect more news facts and delve into the essence of the facts. Suspicion is the source of obtaining news clues. The need for news clues and in-depth reporting is the need to be suspicious and ensure the accuracy and objectivity of the news. 2. How to select sources (interview objects) Determine sources based on the topic and conduct factual interviews. Primary source: parties, witnesses. Secondary source: investigation. Investigators, investigative reports, authoritative institutions, government organizations, critical interviews with officials. First-level sources: officials. Second-level sources: experts, scholars. Third-level sources: ordinary people. Analytical sources. Sources: experts, scholars, media. Pitfalls of sources and interviews with industry insiders: Unreliable news sources miss the forest for the trees, or ignore important details. Accept interviews for the sake of a certain cause or benefit. 3. Persuasion and obtaining interview opportunities. Interviews are like Learning to drive is a little scary and difficult at first.

But after contact, it becomes natural to start smoothly, turn on the signal light, shift gears, turn the steering wheel, and check the instruments. If you are afraid of approaching strangers, they are more likely to refuse to answer.

"Whatever you throw out is what you get in response." What kind of people are likely to be interviewed by you? ——Idle Man How to persuade: 1. Organizational arrangements are the biggest! ! 2. Find an intermediary to introduce you. 3. Call him, write a letter or other means to hint to him that "it will be your loss if you don't accept my interview" (pay attention to your attitude). Do your homework, look at the original interview records, and look for him. A topic that has never been discussed before; (what is his interest) 4. How to ask questions Classification of questions: 1. Open-ended questions - refers to asking more general, broad, and large-scale questions, and there are no strict restrictions on the content of the answers , giving the other party full room for free play.

This kind of question is relatively loose, unobtrusive, and often appropriate. Features: Often used at the beginning of interviews, it can shorten the psychological and emotional distance between the two parties, but it is difficult to dig deeper due to its looseness and freedom.

2. Closed questions - refers to questions that are more specific, clear, and narrow in scope, requiring the other party to answer only the specific content of the question. Features: Closed questions are easy to break through. They are often used for in-depth questioning or verification, as well as changing topics. They are also often sensitive. Pay attention to the angle and tone of the question.

Don’t just ask questions that can only be answered with a “Yes” or “No”. The reporter's questions should strive to obtain vivid direct quotes and details from the interviewee; obtain the interviewee's description of the event or explanation of "what happened" and "how could it be like this". The best questions should be "closed-ended" ” is a good combination with “open-ended”: (1) A touchstone for a reporter’s interviewing skills.

(2) Only by asking questions can you obtain newsworthy materials. (3) Asking questions can improve interview efficiency. The way to ask questions is to ask straight questions.

That is to ask the question head-on, straight to the point, neatly and neatly. It is generally suitable for firstly, people familiar to the reporter; secondly, cadres and scholars with high cultural level and rich social experience; thirdly, friends who have something to do. side question.

Also called the roundabout method. The reporter's questions start from the side, go around and around in circles, and then return to the topic.

More suitable for interviewees who are not good at talking. For example, start with the weather, sex, hobbies, etc. (Set Sail with an Icebreaker P130) Ask rhetorically.

Also known as the method of stimulating generals. If the interviewee is unwilling to answer for some reason, the reporter will ask questions from the opposite aspect to prompt the other party to think and not answer.

This form is often used by interviewees who are modest and do not want to talk, have concerns and are afraid to talk, or rely on their high status and disdain to talk. The reporter followed the clues of the other party's conversation and followed up with questions, asking to "get to the bottom of the matter" and "break the casserole and get to the bottom of it."

Don’t make the source nervous by asking questions, and persuade the other party to chat with you; ask relevant questions, targeted and meaningful questions; ask readers and the public questions that are of concern and smart questions. (Most interviewees would rather talk to a smart and informed reporter than to a smart-aleck or fool); Ask questions that make the interviewee feel you are fair. Ask questions that try to trigger the interviewee's reaction. The interviewer's sense of honor and pride; the source should feel that he is an expert in this field, has social influence and prestige, and that he is being interviewed as an expert; the source should feel that he is serving the public; Make the interviewee feel that his failure to answer your questions damages his public image; make the interviewee feel that justice is being served; make the interviewee feel that his opinions are important to the public; discover during the interview New questions: Discover newer, more important, or controversial issues; discover errors or issues that the interviewee is trying to hide. Journalists must be fully prepared. Only good questions will lead to surprising information.

The interviewee is unwilling to discuss esoteric issues with unfamiliar or stupid people, or to say witty lines that could be used as direct quotations.

The order of asking questions: Write down a list of questions first and arrange them logically to prevent the questions from being forgotten during the interview; Arrange the questions according to their importance in case the interview time is up and the most important questions have not been asked yet; Embarrass the interviewer personally The question is placed at the end of the interview because by this stage, the reporter and the interviewee have established a certain relationship of mutual trust.

(Even if the interviewee decides to terminate the interview at this time, the reporter has already obtained the basic important information needed). Designing interview questions: What kind of questions will your readers ask? Rather than what kind of questions the interviewee is willing to answer; the latest facts, the most important facts, the facts that the public is most interested in? Questions should be short, straightforward, and specific; do not ask vague, abstract, or conceptual questions.

The more specific the question, the more specific figures and facts can be obtained; do not ask meaningless questions that waste time; do not ask questions that everyone knows the answer; do not ask questions that will embarrass the interviewee or show his stupidity Do not ask prejudicial or biased questions. To gain the trust and respect of the interviewee, dress appropriately. For example, male reporters should wear suits and ties during formal interviews (not casually dressed like TV cameras or photojournalists).

Your clothing shows that you value and respect the interviewee. If you respect him, he will respect you.

Otherwise, he will not give you a lot of interview time; interviews must be punctual; at the beginning of an important interview, you might as well have a few casual conversations with the interviewee to make the interviewee relax their vigilance; Journalists need control.

2. What details should journalists pay attention to when interviewing

Being a reporter, especially a good reporter, in addition to the basic knowledge and professional knowledge learned in school , what other qualities are needed? The qualities that journalists should possess include: the habit of continuous learning; the persistence in pursuing the truth; an objective and fair attitude; an accurate and simple writing style; the spirit of being willing to endure hardship; rich and extensive knowledge; tolerance and kindness; and the character of being thrifty and ethical.

The quality of a reporter is by no means innate and does not need to be cultivated. Most of the qualities necessary for a successful reporter are acquired rather than inherited. Judging from the journalistic qualities we mentioned above, except for the possibility of genetic factors in understanding, the rest can only be achieved through acquired cultivation and training.

Of course, there are many methods and channels for this kind of cultivation and training. Training in actual work practice is the best method. Here are three suggestions: The first one: insist on writing every day, at least 1,000 words. , what you write is not important here, the key is not to stop writing. No matter which media you work for, whether it is a TV station or a newspaper, writing skills are the most basic requirement for a reporter.

As a professional journalist, the minimum requirement is to be able to easily express the news you collect and your thoughts on the news in words and convey it to the audience. If you can't even do this, the reporter can't do a good job.

Everything has a process from quantitative change to qualitative change. Without quantitative accumulation, there can be no qualitative leap. Writing is a basic skill for journalists, and it is also a special skill. It must be practiced continuously.

In fact, it doesn’t matter what you write specifically. The important thing is that you must force yourself to write non-stop in order to train your thinking and expression skills. Even if there are no interviews or manuscripts to hand in today, don’t let your pen stop. You can copy a paragraph from a book, write a paragraph to a friend, write down some of your feelings, etc.

Article 2: Keep reading the news every day, and read at least ten items carefully. Write down the news events that you consider important each day.

Then, follow up on some ongoing news events, not only to see the progress of the events, but also to look at the methods and steps of the media's reporting of the events, so as to understand some rules of news writing. Journalists' work is inseparable from information collection, and they should always keep themselves connected to the ocean of news information. Now with the Internet, it can be said that obtaining news information has become very easy.

Almost all major events that happen in the world every day can be reported online with pictures and texts. For example, the recent news about bird flu and the trial of Saddam Hussein.

By checking relevant news reports and comments, you can understand what bird flu is like in the world and how countries deal with this incident. From this, we can learn a lot that cannot be learned in books. to something. Article 3: Persist in comparing news from the same source and summarize the regularities of news collection and writing.

Frequent comparative analysis of news from the same source is very beneficial to us in improving the level of news gathering and writing, from two levels. One is from the reporter's personal training level. By comparing news from the same source, we can see the different approaches of different reporters to the same news subject, including differences in the choice of angles, the selection of materials, the organization of writing, etc. Then I found out which points I missed in my interview, which points I didn't think of, and which points I could borrow in the future.

This is a continuous accumulation process. In this process, the most important thing is to be a thoughtful person, to be good at comparing news events and news reports, and to compare through regular and conscious comparisons. Discover the differences and develop your ability to compare, analyze and absorb nutrients. If in our daily life and interviews, we always pay attention to the differences between events and news works, and identify their advantages and disadvantages, of course, the advantages and disadvantages here are personal judgments, and then we can choose the best and eliminate the bad according to the judgment results. Over time, we will cultivate Making it a habit is a help to one's own development, and a kind of accumulation to one's own cultivation.

When comparing news from the same source, you must constantly ask yourself three questions: Why did the reporter write this news? What did the reporter write in this news item? In what structure and order did the reporter write this news? "Why write" solves the problem of determining the news topic. News reports objective facts, but it is by no means necessary to record everything you hear. There is a reporter's choice of the events and content reported, even if the reporter is not sure about the facts reported. Add a comment, but in the face of all kinds of incidents, why do you report this thing but not the other thing? There is an implicit theme in this why. "What to write" solves the problem of selecting and discarding materials. Writing news is not simply to tell the process of the event in a straightforward manner, but to select the main point or points to highlight and enlarge.

"How to write" solves the problem of narrative framework and narrative method. The narrative framework mentioned here is not the structure of the news, but all the links and categories that need to be involved in the news writing process, including the factual boundaries that cannot be crossed.

News is a report of recent facts, and news must abide by the concepts of "comprehensive, objective, and fair". These are concepts that everyone is well aware of. The question is, how to implement these concepts and ideas into a specific news interview process and into specific writing links.

3. What is the knowledge of interviewing?

1. The importance of news interviewing. Interviews are the foundation of news and the basis for reporting, and news is the result of interviews. Without interviews, news becomes water without a source and a tree without roots.

2. There are many types of interviews. Those that are closely related to beginners include direct interviews, indirect interviews, conversation interviews (oral interviews), observation interviews (eyewitness interviews), written interviews, etc.

3. We must systematically study journalism theory. At the same time, we must pay special attention to the current situation and the party's major decisions.

4. Learn relevant business knowledge.

5. Accumulate knowledge and data. For industries and people within the scope of the interview, materials should be accumulated regularly, relevant professional knowledge and basic information about the units or industries should be collected to form the best knowledge structure suitable for news reporting. It is best to establish one's own database.

6. Develop an interview outline. There are generally two types of interview outlines. One is a simple interview outline. Just draw out the skeleton. It doesn’t need to be very detailed. This simple interview outline can be effective in practice. There will be great changes; the other is the special interview outline, which requires an overall design, stipulates the overall purpose and requirements of the interview, as well as the requirements and requirements of each individual project, determines the interview objects, and clearly identifies what types of discussions will be held. Yes, wait.

4. What are reporters’ interview skills?

1. Questioning is the key to the success or failure of an interview. Interview questions are an art journalism interview and should not be taken lightly. Questions must be based on the interviewee, the nature of the news event, and the occasion. How to master the art of asking questions? The first is to ask questions at different levels; the second is to catch the other person's psychology when asking questions; the third is to pay attention to some questions that should not be asked.

2. When listening to the introduction during the interview, you must use your brain to analyze while listening, and try to inspire the interviewee to talk more about news-related materials. The first is to be good at inspiring the interlocutor's desire to speak; the second is to be good at grasping the central issue; the third is to be good at grasping subtle changes.

Extended information

Interview notes

1. Master the basic information and information related to the interview content.

2. Read the documents and historical and realistic information related to the report.

3. Pay attention to the first impression. Arrive on time for interviews. Be polite and polite. Your attitude should be correct, sincere and neatly dressed.

4. Use body movements to express your understanding of the interviewee, and use a position close to the interviewee's body to increase mutual intimacy.

5. During the interview, efforts should be made to exchange ideas with the interviewee. Only by establishing a close relationship with the interviewee through heart-to-heart communication can the interview be deepened.

5. What etiquette knowledge should young reporters have

1. To be a young reporter, you must meet the following conditions: (1) You must have good ideological and moral qualities and serve your partners wholeheartedly. ideological style.

(2) Must have solid cultural foundation and written expression ability. (3) Learn to master news writing, become familiar with news rules and business, and master the skills of journalists.

2. Etiquette knowledge that a young reporter should have: Only by being a popular young reporter can we obtain more, newer, and more newsworthy news. Popular young reporters must achieve the "Five Learnings" (1) Learn to communicate. The more friends you know, the more news clues you will have.

Friends can be peers of the same age, relatives or elders, or neighbors in the community. (2) Learn to observe. Young reporters must have a pair of "news eyes". Whenever they go to a place, they should pay attention to the surrounding environment, observe people and events, see any differences or changes, and after thinking, analyzing, and judging whether There is news.

(3) Learn to listen. Young reporters must have a pair of "news ears". In addition to watching TV and listening to the radio every day, they should also pay attention to the conversations of teachers, classmates, and family members, and dig out some of the things that reflect people's thoughts. Dynamic news. (4) Learn to remember. As a young reporter, you must first learn to use the image memory method to remember in your life.

Use the image method to remember every word and action of the interviewee. This will leave a good impression on others, and they will be willing to approach you and talk to you. (5) Learn to appreciate yourself. First of all, you must appreciate yourself, build confidence, and like yourself; you must also learn to appreciate and like others.

Use your thumb more and your index finger less. (6) Learn to be grateful. When interviewing, reporters should first politely introduce their identity and name to me, and then enter the topic with the consent of the interviewee.

After the interview, you should express your gratitude to the interviewee. This is also one of the ten good moral habits that young pioneers must develop - thank others for their help in a timely manner. You should learn to be grateful to the mentors and helpful friends who have nurtured you.

(7) Learn to participate. Young reporters should not only cover activities, but also participate in activities and gain personal insights from them - this is what we call "experiential interviewing".

6. What should be paid attention to during on-site interviews

Questioning skills for exclusive interviews - Exclusive interviews are a way for reporters to ask news figures to answer specialized questions. Reporters conduct purposeful interviews with relevant persons.

It is a special kind of communication that mainly obtains direct information through conversations between reporters and people, interspersed with background information. It is more detailed and vivid than ordinary reports.

In an exclusive interview, two factors are indispensable: the interviewee and the reporter. The characteristic of an exclusive interview lies in the word "special", and the focus is on an interview.

Exclusive interviews with people should emphasize not only newsiness and politics, but also readability. Compared with other news forms, personal interviews are more readable and friendly.

Therefore, it is loved by the audience. Character interviews are difficult to write because people have high demands and attention on them.

The difficulty in writing character interviews lies in how to avoid being bland and write about characters with distinctive characteristics. If readers can remember this character after reading it and distinguish it from other characters, this can be said to be a successful character interview.

Distinctive characters, typical examples, and vivid details all depend on the success of the interview. Conversation and communication between reporters and interviewees is the most important way.

If you pick well and carefully, you will have a deeper understanding and understanding of the characters, and you will be able to grasp the character's personality characteristics, thereby discovering the shining points and distinctive features of the characters, and you will be able to more accurately identify them. Refining the theme makes readers want to read, love to read, and feel credible, approachable, and learnable. If the interview fails, no matter how carefully you run it, you can't write it well.

Whether the interview is good or bad, the reporter’s questioning skills are particularly important. Asking questions well and accurately can help open up the conversation of the interviewee. The author believes that reporters currently tend to have the following shortcomings in asking questions: First, the questions are too big and too short, leaving the interviewee not knowing how to answer.

Some reporters still like to use "what do you think" and other "older questions" in interviews. Second, reporters have poor oral expression skills and cannot ask concise and to the point questions.

Questions make the interviewees confused. Some reporters lightly ask questions and rewrite them, and the questions are not expressive. They are often good at writing but not good at speaking. They also have prejudices in understanding: they think that focusing on eloquence is the key to speaking. Showy, not pragmatic. The author often sees reporters asking questions, saying a lot of things but not getting around to the topic. For example, asking a farmer entrepreneur what his next plan is, whether he intends to fund rural education.

After all, not only did the interviewee appear confused, but the reporter himself did not understand what was said. Third, the reporter’s interview attitude is not correct and his knowledge is limited.

Some reporters talk nonsense when asking questions and do not understand the other party's answers, which makes the other party feel psychologically disgusted and distances them from the reporter. These all invisibly affect the conversational interest of the interviewees.

The interviewees are prone to the following situations: 1. Subjectively, they cooperate with the interview, but they are always unable to speak due to nervousness or excitement. Farmers, herdsmen, and workers from the grassroots level are prone to this phenomenon.

2. Cope with the interview passively. Although he opened his mouth, he always deviated from the topic or consciously avoided certain sensitive questions from reporters.

The third is that the interviewee leads the reporter away, and the interviewee keeps talking at will. The reporter cannot control the situation, and the interview takes a lot of time. It seems that he has memorized a lot, but there is nothing to use. It’s not much, and it’s time-consuming and labor-intensive. In response to some of the above shortcomings and problems, the author puts forward the following suggestions based on my superficial experience for discussion by colleagues.

1. Design some important questions around the theme in advance.

During the interview process, the reporter should establish the theme and carefully design several questions around the theme in advance.

Some questions can be played on the spot, but the key questions must be prepared. By clarifying the topic before the interview, the reporter can ensure that the interview is targeted and reduce waste of time.

Reporters must ask a few straight-to-the-top questions, make full estimates in advance, and avoid going into an unprepared battle. Some reporters who are not very eloquent use this method to achieve better results.

First, you can be confident and not panic in the face of battle. Second, you can also practice asking questions in advance.

These questions are actually the outline and ideas of the interview. It helps the reporter control the situation and lead the interviewer to the topic.

When the author was interviewing a strong business woman, she was well-informed and had a strong desire to express herself. She talked a lot but always went off topic. Several questions designed by the author in advance were used. Whenever she strayed from the topic, she would be asked back with a question.

2. Ask questions in professional terms. Experts will know if they are there if they stretch out their hands.

When a reporter opens his mouth and asks, the interviewee can tell whether you know something about him or not, and how well you know his work. When reporters ask in layman terms, it is difficult to gain recognition from the interviewees, making it impossible to talk in depth. It is also difficult for reporters to explore the inner world of the interviewees.

Journalists should make friends with the interview subjects, touch their most sensitive nerves, and explore their souls. The easiest thing to find in the same language is the industry topic of the interviewee.

This is effective for interviewing interviewees who are introverted, shy, timid, and difficult to speak. The reporter can ask him some familiar topics to guide him. The simplest way is to talk to the farmer about what fertilizer he applied to his crops; to talk to the herdsman about how many winter lambs he has produced; and to talk to the driver about the model and performance of the car.

Of course, you must not pretend to understand or pretend to be an expert. For example, when a reporter interviews typical workers who have been laid off and re-employed, the interviewees are those who make knitwear.

The author has interviewed the textile industry for a long time before and has a good understanding of knitting. During the interview, he casually said professional words such as spandex, fine thread needles, and circular looms, which surprised the interviewees. She believes that her industry is valued, which invisibly reduces the psychological distance.

This interview lasted 8 hours. The interviewee said everything he wanted to say and didn’t want to say. He had a detailed and complete grasp of the situation, and the written communication was true and contagious. 3. Ask questions about light topics to calm the interviewee’s mood.

For some interviewees who cannot get into the mood quickly due to excitement or nervousness, in order to calm down their emotions, reporters can first talk about relaxed topics that are unrelated to the topic. Let the other person relax through light topics and shorten the psychological distance between the two people as soon as possible.

A pot of flowers, an experience, an opinion on a problem, or the other person’s interests and hobbies can all become topics for questions. The author often uses this method in interviews.

Once I was interviewing the wife of a police officer who died heroically. The police wife could not calm down, so the author asked about their daughter, from her age to what she said and thought about her father's death. . Then it led to the main thread of the interview.

Interviewing disabled musicians.

7. What should be paid attention to during on-site interviews?

On-site interviews are essential qualities and basic skills for program hosts.

To conduct a good on-site interview, you should do the following work: 1. Preparation before the interview (1) Understand the situation related to the interview and master the necessary information. From big policies to small news backgrounds, the ins and outs of events, etc.

(2) Understand the interviewee. Through secondary materials, fully understand the interviewees and be good at analyzing and grasping their psychology.

For some impromptu interviews, representative interviewees should be selected based on the atmosphere of the scene and people's reaction to the program, which plays an important role in the success of the interview. (3) Design an interview outline.

According to the theme of the program, determine the best interview angle and draw up an outline for the conversation with the interviewee. (4) Carefully design the first sentence of the interview.

The first sentence of the host's on-site interview is very important, and even affects whether the interview can proceed smoothly. The first sentence of the interview should be as specific as possible and the questions asked should be smaller. It is best not to ask "open-ended" questions such as "what do you think?"

It is necessary to seize the "focus" of interest to the interviewee and the audience as a breakthrough point, trigger it, and make the interview continue to deepen and expand. 2. Use good questioning skills and methods (1) Different environments and occasions, and different interviewees require interviewers to have different questions and tones.

In serious and solemn occasions or when interviewing important figures or foreign guests, the questions should be concise and accurate, and the manner and tone should be solemn, serious and serious, giving people the feeling of credibility, reliability and willingness to communicate. When dealing with lighter and brighter news, you can choose vivid and lively topics and use a friendly and easy-going tone to let the audience understand the characters and events in a relaxed and pleasant way.

In the reporting of emergencies, the pace of questioning should be accelerated and the questions asked should go straight to the point, so as to enhance the timeliness and on-site feeling of the report. (2) Use questioning methods flexibly according to the situation.

Positive questioning: Asking questions from the front, asking questions directly and straight to the point. Questioning method: Ask some hypothetical questions to inspire and guide the interviewee, talk about their true feelings in a certain aspect, and make the interview develop in depth.

There are also rhetorical questions, follow-up questions, latent questions, etc. (3) Questions should be as specific as possible.

Only by asking specific questions can we get specific and meaningful answers. (4) Questions should be guiding.

The renovation project of Ranghu Road in Daqing City just ended last year. We interviewed several representative figures. When interviewing a taxi driver, the conversation went like this: "Master, do you often travel this road?" "Yes."

"What was this road like before?" "I couldn't before. "There are potholes everywhere, it's dusty on sunny days, and it's muddy on rainy days. I didn't want to run on this road at all before.

Now that the road is repaired, I feel much more comfortable running on this road." True feelings are conveyed directly to the audience, enhancing the credibility of the news.

(5) Questions must be in-depth and meaningful. The host should also be good at inferring the psychology of the interview subjects, discover more and more important news context during the interview, grasp the direction of questions in a timely manner, and deeply explore the news value.

(6) Listen carefully and provide timely feedback. The host should listen attentively.

Make various reasonable feedbacks based on the content, demeanor, tone, tone, etc. of the other party's conversation. This kind of feedback, whether it is a nod or a look in the eyes, will have a positive impact on the other party, create a harmonious conversation atmosphere, and make the conversation in-depth.

3. Pay attention to the screen image in on-site interviews (1) Have appropriate expressiveness in front of the camera. The host must have a proactive response to the news event itself in front of the camera, and must be good at controlling his emotions. Depending on the genre of the news, he must be high-spirited when he should be high-spirited and gentle when he should be gentle.

Use colloquial and personal language to express your personality. (2) Be good at summarizing experience.

Going through different news events, different environments, and different interviewees is a new challenge. The host must be good at summarizing the successful experiences and failed lessons in order to better establish an image on camera. Enrich yourself. (3) Strengthen cultural knowledge and moral cultivation.

Including a person’s knowledge level, aesthetic taste, expression ability, thinking method, insight into issues, etc. The host’s words and deeds must comply with the ethics of journalists.