8 Chapter 6: Interviews and Quotes
Interviewing
In journalism school, a professor told me that a good interview should feel like an enjoyable conversation with a good friend instead of an awkward first date. But when I was a student journalist talking to sources for the Mustang Daily, the campus newspaper of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, my interviews never reached that level of ease.
I did not experience an effective interview until I applied for a job at a local newspaper and sat down with the editor. He looked like any small-town editor, rumpled and graying with a messy desk.
But he zeroed in on me and started asking me questions in such a casual but effective manner that the time flew by, and I left the conversation feeling heard and understood.
This level of skill takes time and requires a lot of practice. But here are some tips to get you started.
Journalist Dana Dwyer wrote a paper in 1996 about journalistic interviewing techniques that’s still relevant today.
She begins by introducing two types of interview questions, the directive and the nondirective. Directive interviews seek specific information and often include brief questions that require short answers.
Example:
- Did you find the class helpful?
- What did you like best about the class?
- What did you like least about the class?
Nondirective interviews consist of open-ended questions that let the interviewee choose the conversation’s direction.
Example:
- How can we improve?
- What does the future hold?
- What do you think of your school?
Dwyer writes that journalists should use both kinds of questions: “Short questions with short easy answers give the (source) confidence and flesh out the bones of the information. Nondirective questions allow for new perspectives and interesting anecdotes.”
Dwyer also advises interviewers to start with a purpose. Ask yourself: What information do I want from the source?
Write down the answer to the purpose question and let the source know. Dwyer also recommends telling the source why you picked them in the first place.
“Remember to build self-esteem,” she writes. “If you choose this (source) deliberately for the value of his or her knowledge, say so, clearly and often.”
Dwyer suggests five practical options for how to structure an interview:
- Time sequence: Rank questions in order of importance.
- Topical sequence: Start by focusing on who, what, when, where, why and how.
- Spatial sequence: Focus on where people or things are physically.
- Cause-to-effect sequence: Move from analysis of causes to the possible effects.
- Problem-solution: Begin with problems and asks about viable solutions.
Dwyer encourages interviewers to actively listen and find interesting stories among the answers. The best way to practice active listening is by trying to summarize what the person said at the end of each response. Active listening and appropriate questions can bring out details and emotion from your source that improve news writing.
The Interviewing Process
It’s time to practice interviewing. Here’s how to conduct an interview in seven steps.
- Step 1: Research
- Learn as much as you can before the interview.
- Find your source on LinkedIn and other social media sites. A good reporter knows a lot about the person before they conduct the interview.
Step 2: Create a list of questions
- The research you conducted in Step 1 will help determine what you need to ask that person.
- Make your questions short and precise. Multi-part questions are tough for sources.
- Circle the priority questions to remind you which ones you must get answered.
Step 3: Pick a place
- In-person interviews are ideal because you can build a better rapport and learn more about a person by observation.
- A good second choice is a Zoom interview with the cameras on.
- A phone interview is your third-best option because the natural flow of a spoken conversation is best for quoting and follow-up questions.
- An email or messaging interview should be your last resort as it is more work for the source to type out answers versus talking to you. It also often makes the quotes sound too formal.
Step 4: Pick a way to record
- You’ll need to have a plan to keep track of the interview responses.
- If you are meeting in person, veteran journalists recommend taking notes and recording the session for clarity.
- Remember to ask the source’s permission to record and get them to agree on the recording.
- For a Zoom or phone interview, recording is recommended with source permission.
Step 5: Prepare for the interview
- Give visual cues to your professionalism.
- Dress appropriately. Try to match the source’s general attire to help build a connection.
- Limit distractions during the interview.
Step 6: Conduct the interview
- Thank the source for meeting with you and ask for name (including spelling), title and age. Write them down.
- Start with easy questions as a warmup. Consider questions on childhood, education, family, pets.
- Save tough questions for last as they could cause the source to end the interview abruptly.
- If your subject is talking too fast, ask them to slow down.
- Remember to observe your source as well as listen. You can note objective manners in a news story.
- For example, “I love this city,” said the mayor while showing her collection of framed city logos.
- For a chatty source, you might need to interrupt them respectfully to get them back on track.
- For a shy source, consider these techniques:
- Use open-ended questions
- “Tell me more about that.”
- “I didn’t quite get that; could you explain it again?”
- “Describe what you did next.”
- “Why?”
- Consider the 2-year-old test. If you ever have spent time with a toddler, they ask “why” a lot. It can be tedious but it’s an effective way to get information. Asking “why” forces your source to elaborate.
- Consider silence. If they give you a short answer and you need more, don’t say anything. Let the silence stretch out and see if they fill it.
- Use open-ended questions
- Remember the questions that every news story should be trying to answer:
- What sort of impact does this have?
- What does it mean for society?
- Why should the reader care?
Step 7: Wrap up
- End every interview with these two questions:
- Is there anything else I should know about this?
- Is there anyone else you think I should talk to about this?
- Thank the source for their time.
- Get their contact information in case of follow-up questions.
Transparency With Sources
Sources always should be treated fairly. In a March 2022 article, NPR writer Emma Grazado encouraged journalists to be overly transparent with their sources: “When interviewing people who aren’t accustomed to talking to the press, transparency is key to avoiding confusion, disappointment or even anger.”
Grazado breaks down the recommendations into three areas:
- Explain the basics of your media organization and how reporting works.
- Clarify the pre-interview process. This is needed for audio or video recording, but is helpful for any interview. Sources need to understand that a reporter might not use all – or any — of the interview.
- Set boundaries before the interview begins. Reiterate that everything is on the record or explain the other options of background, deep background or off the record.
The Associated Press has weighed in on the same topic. “When relevant, stories should provide information about the setting in which a quotation was obtained – for example, a press conference, phone interview or hallway conversation with the reporter,” according to its website. “The source’s affect and body language – perhaps a smile or deprecatory gesture – is sometimes as important as the quotation itself.”
The AP site also mentions the importance of honoring regional dialects in a way that doesn’t degrade sources. And it reminds journalists that if they are translating quotes from another language, that should be noted as well.
Levels of background
On the record
- Can use all information
- Can identify the source
- Can run actual quotes
Off the record
- Can’t use any information
- Can’t identify the source
- Can’t run actual quotes
On background
- Can use all information
- Can’t identify the source by name
- Can run actual quotes
On deep background
- Can use the information
- Can’t identify the source
- Can’t run actual quotes
NPR stresses that while you should be transparent with sources, you shouldn’t let them see the material before it’s published. But NPR reporters can tell their sources in general what parts of an interview they might use if sources are concerned.
Quotations
Once an interview is finished, the writing begins. But first, a news writer needs to consider what quotes might be used.
Why use quotes at all?
Think of a long meeting or speech where your attention drifts. If the speaker changes, your attention will be drawn back. The same concept applies to your stories. The more voices you have, the more interesting your story will be to the reader. In a broccoli story, quotes are the seasoning and oil that makes each bite more flavorful.
Types of Quotes
News writing needs quotes, and news writers have three options for them:
- Direct quotes are when a source’s exact words are used in a news story and set apart by quotation marks. For example: “I am not a crook,” President Richard Nixon said.
- Indirect quotes occur in a story when a reporter takes a quote and rewrites it without quotation marks. It is still attributed to the source. For example: President Richard Nixon said he has not broken the law.
- Partial quotes are a combination of direct and indirect quotes. A source’s remarks are mostly paraphrased, but a small part is left verbatim with quotation marks. For example: President Richard Nixon denied that he is a “crook.”
How to choose which type of quote to use? Consider these rules of thumb:
Direct quotes
- Use when the reporter cannot write the words better
- Use when the quote includes something important or controversial
- Use to show emotion or color to elevate a story
- Use to provide new information
Indirect quotes
- Use to replace a weak quote
- Use to replace a confusing response
- Use to replace a lengthy response with a concise quote
- Use to get rid of jargon
- Example: The mayor said he will discuss raising taxes. Instead of: “We plan to dialogue on the proposal to consider increasing the tax rate in this wonderful city,” the mayor said.
Partial Quotes
- Use for controversial or essential information
- Typically avoid as it’s easy to take the quote out of context
- Don’t use for ordinary statements like the sky is “blue.” This format is confusing for readers.
Changing quotes
There’s debate about when or if journalists should change a quote. Some like to remove the inevitable ums and uhs that come with natural speech. Others take out profanity or slang.
Roy Peter Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, writes about this in a 2015 post:
“In the almost 40-year history of the Poynter Institute, there have been few topics that generate as much debate among journalists as how to handle quotes. I love it when a dogmatic reporter argues, ‘I only use the exact words that a person says, nothing more or less.’ Then comes my cross-examination: ‘Do you include every time the source says “like” or “you know”? If the mayor says “gonna” do you ever change it to “going to”?’ The reporter grumbles. It’s my Perry Mason moment.”
Clark advises reporters never to change the meaning of a quote.
“Quotes should be faithful to the words and intended meaning of the speaker. My goal is not to trap the source into making a mistake. It is to make public a meaningful statement.”
He acknowledges that every quote is taken from a larger conversation, which means it can be tough to keep the right meaning without the context. If the quote doesn’t make sense without the rest of the answer, don’t use it.
Clark also warns against using slang without a good command of its meaning. Every reporter should strive for a variety of quotes and a diversity of speech.
If the quote has grammar issues, he advises journalists to change it. “Tidy up the quote rather than make someone sound stupid,” Clark writes. “Too many journalists have a double standard: They may clean up the mayor, but not the cranky old lady complaining to City Council.”
If there’s profanity in a quote, check with your editor. Professional news organizations tend to be more prudish about grammar than college media. Quote accordingly.
Quote Grammar
Ellipses in quotes
A quote ellipse is three dots that signify that words were taken out of a direct quote. This should not be used often in direct quotes and should be applied with the utmost care. It’s easy to misconstrue the meaning of a direct quote if the wrong words are removed. Instead, use an ellipse to remove unrelated tangents that take away from a quote’s original meaning.
Example:
- Original direct quote: “When I ran for the City Council and won, although everyone said I would lose, I vowed never to raise taxes. Now I am going to keep that promise,” Councilman Don Donaldson said.
- Quote using an ellipse: “When I ran for the City Council and won … I vowed never to raise taxes. Now I am going to keep that promise,” Councilman Don Donaldson said.
Capitalizing and punctuating quotations
Grammar rules for quotes are much like they are for any writing. Capitalize complete sentences with direct quotes.
Example:
- He said, “Life is a frustrating but rewarding journey.”
Do not capitalize partial quotes. Follow typical grammar rules.
Example:
- She said the school has some “astonishingly gifted” students.
If you need to quote within another quote, AP style dictates you use single quotation marks.
Example:
- “He said to me, ‘You need to make this right,’ ” Joe Blue said.
If the attribution comes before the quote and the quote is one full sentence, use a comma.
Example:
- Sami Susan said, “This is the best college in the state.”
If the attribution comes before the quote and the quote is two or more sentences, use a colon.
Example:
- Coco Coal said: “My favorite animal is a cat. They are easier to care for than dogs.”
Quote Attribution
Attribution is documenting the name of a source who provided a quote or other information for a news story. In a journalistic news story or feature, everything that is not an undisputed fact must be attributed.
For example, it’s unnecessary to attribute where your college is located, but you do need to attribute a source for enrollment numbers. Attribution can be people, documents or publications, but not places such as cities or schools. Your college cannot talk. Its officials can.
Placing Attribution
It is essential that your reader easily can discern who gave a quote. Attribution must be placed before, in the middle of or after a quoted phrase.
“My student loan debts are overwhelming me,” said Jane Doe, a graduate student. “When I think of the amount I owe, I begin to panic.”
The word “said” typically is placed after the name of the source for the reader’s ease of understanding.
“President Joe Biden said” flows better than “said President Joe Biden.” Sometimes, though, the word “said” must go first.
If you have a source with a long title, start with the attribution, such as “said Joe Smith, the dean of Academic Affairs at Grossmont College.”
Attribution Word Choice
When I was a reporter at a daily newspaper, I got creative with attribution. I wrote that my sources “replied” and “maintained” and added “retorted” when I was feeling saucy.
Then a scary editor came over to my desk and barked, “What do you have against the word said?”
Why didn’t I write “Jane Doe said” when crediting a quote?
Well, it’s boring. But “said” is an objective and clear word that avoids adding emotion that can sway the reader.
Listen to my scary editor and banish fancy verbs from your attribution. Instead, stick with “said” and use “added” for longer attributions.
Avoid these subjective choices: explain, warn, maintain, declare, state, urge, counter, point out, insist and reply.
There might be times when a different word choice is necessary. If a source is objectively yelling, you can say that. Consider the example: “We will not leave,” he shouted at the police.
If a source tells you how they feel, make sure the reader understands that as well. Do not write, “She felt sad.” You can’t know how she felt, but you can tell the reader what she said. Write “she said she felt sad” for a more appropriate structure.
Key Takeaways
- The two types of interviews are the directive and the nondirective.
- Directive interviews seek specific information.
- Nondirective interviews consist of open-ended questions.
- There are seven steps to a good interview.
- Step 1: Research
- Step 2: Create a list of questions
- Step 3: Pick a place
- Step 4: Pick a way to record
- Step 5: Prepare for the interview
- Step 6: Conduct the interview
- Step 7: Wrap up
- There are three types of quotes to use in a news story.
- A direct quote is a source’s exact words put in quotations.
- An indirect quote is a quote that is rewritten without quotation marks.
- A partial quote is a combination of direct and indirect quotes.
Chapter Exercise
This exercise is designed to help you practice finding good quotes. Watch this 10-minute YouTube interview between Jennifer Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Listen and jot down at least two examples of each of the following types of quotes. Remember to review the quote characteristics to help you in this exercise.
- Direct quotes
- Indirect quotes
- Partial quotes