The Art of Note-taking
and Interviewing
The road to becoming an
information gatherer
“Dare to be stupid”
“A motto I always try to live by is ‘dare to be stupid.’ Too many
young journalists want to impress their sources with what they
know. But the name of the game isn’t impressing sources, it’s
getting information. The best way to do that is to profess ignorance
and ask your source to educate you. It also has several side benefits.
One, it eliminates the arrogant reporter stereotype and drives home
the point that you are there to hear what the source has to say.
Second, people are much more willing to give information if they
think they’re helping out someone who doesn’t understand
something. I have found this technique works whether I’m dealing
with cattle ranchers or CEOs. I try to never come off as
condescending in an interview, which may sound funny coming from
a columnist.”
-- Loren Steffy, business columnist for the Houston Chronicle
“The great stories, …
I have held, always come from letting someone tell a story
and being there to listen. But I think reporters increasingly
are not good listeners.
“I think (the Watergate stories) show
that the process of reporting is piecing
together what so-and-so says and
then somebody else, and then
going back again.
“The bottom line is that you don’t understand what is going
on by doing a little interview with a couple of people. You
really have to dig.”
Bob Woodward, Washington Post
THE ART OF INTERVIEWING
Writing for a communications medium is
basically a two-step process.
▀ The information-gathering stage
(from a variety of sources)
▀ The presentation stage
Both steps require preparation and thoughtful consideration.
Information gathering
Using our metaphor about building a “writing house,”
information is akin to the utilities (water, gas, electricity)
and cable; you almost never generate those yourself.
Where does information come from? Here are some
sources:
 Polls
 Surveys
 Medical and scientific research
 Government records
 Events (games, debates, concerts)
 Archival sources (libraries, Internet)
 Interviews (your notes)
Note-taking
Page 74 of your textbook has a great illustration of what a typical
reporter’s notebook might look like after an interview. For filing
purposes, it’s good to log the time, date, place etc. that the notes were
made.
Basically, there are three types of note-taking, and they each have their
advantages and disadvantages:
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Notebook: Or a cocktail napkin. Cheap, no batteries. Slow?
Illegible? (Don’t use a felt tip pen to cover a hurricane or rainstorm)
Tape recorder: Accurate, allows easy posting to the Web. But
machines break, tapes cost money. Note that Texas is a one-party
consent state for tape-recording.
Typing: Faster note-taking – if you can type. Allows cut-and-paste for
a story. Machines break, files don’t save
Source-Reporter Relationships
Points from a Poynter Institute seminar session
moderated by Deborah Potter, formerly of CBS and
CNN and now a contributor to American Journalism
Review:
 Many sources are clueless when it comes to reporter-speak.
 New shades of gray have developed (the Connie Chung "just
whisper it to me" interview with Newt Gingrich's mom is an
example) Because reporters often have to form "contracts" of
sorts with sources in order to gain access to information, it is
critical that all sides understand the language within these
interpersonal contracts.
 It is the responsibility of the journalist to ensure that the rules of
the game are understood.
Rules of the game:
1) Will the source allow the use of their name or is indirect
identification preferred? Is a generic descriptor needed? (“A
high-level Pentagon official said … ”).
2) Have you defined the terms within the “contract”?
a) On the record -- Identification of the source and all
information obtained can be used
b) Background -- The information is not for direct attribution,
but is usable for quotation, etc. You have to decide how
the source will be identified. (“This new school dress code
policy will be impossible to afford,” said one parent.)
Rules of the game:
c) Deep background -- No attribution and no quotes can be
used, but the information can be used for explanation,
context, etc.
d) Off the record -- No information will be used.
e) Confidentiality -- The identity of the source will never be
revealed.
f) Anonymity -- The identity of the source will protected
except in the case of a lawsuit. Shield laws help here.
g) Embargo -- An agreed upon length of time between when
the information is obtained and when it is published.
(Woodward / Ford interview on Iraq etc.)
Rules of the game:
3)
Should you inform an off-the-record source that you are
looking elsewhere for confirmation?
4)
Will you allow a source to go off the record retroactively?
Can you tell the story accurately without that information
and minimize harm?
5)
How many anonymous sources can be used before going
with a story? (Potter said two; Chronicle policy is three.
Both insist that the editor be told who the sources are.)
6)
Be aware of the source's agenda -- if any.
SOURCE/REPORTER
RELATIONSHIPS:
BE TRUSTED OR BETRAYED?
A CHECKLIST TO SAVE YOU
SOURCE/REPORTER RELATIONSHIPS:
ATTRIBUTION:
 Whose responsibility IS it to define and explain the
terms that are used -- not for attribution. Background,
deep background, off the record?
 Should news organizations have a clear procedure
(including approval by higher-ups) for granting
anonymous sources?
 Should sources of information who are not being
named be described whenever possible?
SOURCE / REPORTER RELATIONSHIPS:
CONFIRMATION:
 Should there be a clear policy on when information
accepted on a not-for-attribution basis can be used
without corroboration from a second source?
 Can documentary evidence been considered a
second source when it is provided by the first source?
(the CBS story on Bush’s National Guard duties)
 Under what circumstances should information from
another news organization be reported?
SOURCE / REPORTER RELATIONSHIPS:
EMBARGOES:
 Under what circumstances should information be
accepted on an embargoed (hold for release until
some future date) basis?
 Is it ever ethical to break an embargo which has been
agreed to?
SOURCE/REPORTER RELATIONSHIPS:
FRIENDSHIP:
 How do you keep from trading independence for
access?
 Can the disclosure of payments or other special
relationships with sources justify their use or
existence?
Don’t look a gift source in the mouth
ISSUES
 What constitutes a gift?
 Is there a difference between a movie ticket and a plane
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ticket?
If it doesn't involve your beat, is it OK to accept a gift?
Does the value of the gift make a difference in whether
you accept it?
Sir Winston Churchill, at a dinner party,
uttered a famed observation about ethics
and accepting “gifts.” (Sir Winston …
what kind of woman do you think I am?”
Don’t look a gift source in the mouth
CHECKLIST
 Does the gift-giver expect anything -- directly or
indirectly?
 What would your reader or viewer think if you announced
you'd received a gift?
 Would you be willing to explain what you accepted and
why you did so?
 Are you getting the gift only because of your position?
 Can you work out a way to pay your own way? If not,
should you accept it?
Don’t look a gift source in the mouth
ALTERNATIVES TO ACCEPTING A GIFT
 Refuse it / return it with a letter explaining why you can't
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accept it and keep a copy of the letter for yourself and
your supervisor
Pay for it
Donate it to charity
Keep the gift, but donate its value in cash to a charity
Getting ready for the interview
Front-end thinking needed
Types of interviews
 Long, formal sitdown: You have many questions, need to
confront the subject face to face
 Quick phoners: Just need a few facts
 Walkaround: Touring the scene, getting lay of the land
 On the fly chat (interviewing a coach at halftime as they
head to the locker room)
 Backgrounder: Talking to experts to educate yourself, get
context, perhaps not even for attribution
Note the advantages and disadvantages (Page 76) of
doing interviews in person, by phone or by email or letter
How to do an interview
How you conduct an interview – in length, tone, equipment
needed -- and how many interviews you do, is often
shaped by the medium that you are working for and by
what type of story you are doing.
Since you will likely be working at a “convergence of skills”
medium, you may have Web, print and broadcast
obligations all on the same story. The type and style of
interview(s) you do may vary from medium to medium.
A closer look at the mediums and types of stories …
Mediums
Print journalists often need description and explanation, so they want
plenty of details. Their stories aren’t measured by a time clock.
Journalists who write for the Web don’t have to worry about space
as much.
Broadcast (and Web video) journalists have the advantage of video
to fill in details, and because they are up against a clock, they prefer
briefer interviews -- the quick hit, the “sound bite.”
PR writers need information suitable for company newsletters, a
company magazine, annual reports or news releases. One
advantage for PR writers -- their sources generally WANT (or are
required) to give them information.
Types of stories (non-opinion)
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News story -- The writer pays more attention to the background
clips or current pertinent information about a source rather than the
source’s personality. Can be a one-source story.
News features and profiles -- The writer elevates the personality,
interests and environment of the source rather than looking for a
news peg. Timeliness is not as big a factor. Often requires multiple
sources.
Investigative pieces -- The writer needs to know both the subject
matter and the source, so many interviews and much research may
be required.
Type of story
It is helpful, especially with longer, more complex stories, to
try to visualize how you think the story will / should take
shape even before you begin interviewing.
Think of the story as a skeleton -- the information you
gather is the flesh that fills it out. This will help you
determine who to talk to and what questions to ask.
Apply this process to the profile you will do – you have a
general idea why you chose your subject. Who do you
interview to get a well-rounded view of him/her? Is there an
anecdote or quote you have in mind for your intro / lead?
Before the interview
A CHECKLIST
Getting started: A 4-PART PROCESS
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Educate yourself on the subject matter
Interview requests
Prep work after the request is granted
The interview itself
Part 1: Do your research
 Clip files and archives -- getting bio details beforehand
could save time on the actual interview
 Google the Internet
 Source lists and Rolodexes
 Books and magazines (if there’s time)
Part 2: Interview requests
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Often you can just pick up the phone and call. Public officials
and politicians are SUPPOSED to serve the public, so they
should want give you information
Just show up – On breaking news events, you can’t phone first
Email requests – Note that emails are discoverable evidence in
court. Don’t contact confidential sources via email or use their
names in ANY email communications.
Letters
If any or all of the interview was done by email or letter, you
should note that fact in the body of your story. Let the reader
judge the credibility of responses given by those contact
methods. Example: In an emailed response, Joe Smith denied
that the drugs were his.
Part 3: They say yes to an interview!
 Come up with a list of questions, even more than you
might need
 If interviewing in person, pick an appropriate site: the
subject’s office or home is most often the choice but
sometimes -- on sensitive stories or just for convenience
-- a neutral site is best. Note that sometimes the
subject’s environment is part of the story.
 Dress appropriately for the occasion – no need to have a
suit at the scene of fire, unless you are a TV type
(wearing a bridal gown to Super Bowl media day)
 Get the equipment you need: tape recorders or
notepads? Pens? Batteries?
After the request is granted
 Establish some ground rules
a. Bringing a photographer? Translator? A crew?
b. Try to set the amount of time required for the
interview
c. Establish attribution status -- on the record, off the
record.
See Washington Post handout
Part 4: The interview itself
1.
Establish a rapport -- the relationship between the
reporter and source is crucial to the success of the
interview. You have to establish a dialogue
between you and the subject. Maybe you can tell
about yourself, note common interests, get some
small talk going before you broach your topic, be
empathetic when appropriate. Be courteous, but
you don’t have to put up with discourtesy.
Be aware of cultural differences – Muslims
consider the bottom of a shoe pointed at them as
an insult; some Muslim women avoid shaking
hands. Indians do not see interrupting or being
interrupted as rude, etc.
The interview itself
2. Where you sit could be a factor; figure out how you
are going to allow for eye contact. (FBI agent
interviewing Saddam “guarded” the door)
3. Be in control of the interview, or at least play for a tie.
That’s why you have to know the subject matter and
visualize the story beforehand. Some folks like to
gab and will get off the subject.
4. Be a good listener; allow room for follow-up
questions. Listen to the language used and how it is
said. It could reveal a bias or a point a view. Do they
keep trying to shift the topic or end discussion? Also,
what is not being said can reveal much as well.
The interview itself
5. Be observant; the subject’s mannerisms and gestures
could add important details to the story or give insight
into a hidden part of the subject’s personality. Check
pages 72-73 of the text for examples on using your
senses.
6. Consider the wording of your question; that will often
determine what kind of response you get. Example:
“Where did you go to college?” gets one type of
response, while “Please tell me about your educational
background” gets another. The former is a close-ended
question while the latter is an open-ended question.
For more on this …
Types of questions
Close-ended questions get simple “yes” or “no,”
either-or type answers, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t
important.
One of the best close-ended questions you can always
ask is “How do you spell your name?”
Types of questions
Open-ended questions require the subject to answer in
more than just a few words. They allow the respondent
some flexibility but be careful to make sure they don’t
stray or rant.
The answers you receive may require you to do
follow-up questions for explanation or open up a new line
of questioning.
Types of questions
Loaded questions, also called biased or leading
questions in a courtroom, imply that the questioner has
already formed an opinion about what the answer should
be. “How do you justify voting for the Iraq war without
having read the entire National Intelligence Estimate
beforehand?”
This type could be useful for investigative pieces. “How
could you stand by and not help those displaced by the
hurricane?”
Now, back to interviewing …
The interview itself
7. Make sure you understand; it’s OK to get the
respondent to repeat something or to stop for a
moment. Make sure you can digest the information
properly.
8. Be flexible; you never know when an interview might
shoot off in another direction.
The interview itself
9. Master the wrap-up. Let your subject know they are
almost off the hook. “I only have a couple more
questions.” OR “Is there anything I was too stupid
not to ask that might be useful or helpful to this
story?”
10. Remember to thank them for their time and ask if
it’s OK to call on them again if necessary.
Improving your interviewing technique
 Listen to the professionals, the folks on the news
magazines or the morning talk shows. Observing a good
trial lawyer in action, if possible, is a good way to learn
how to ask questions.
 Practice bouncing your questions off friends and
colleagues.
 Practice listening.
Using quotes
Where do those quote marks go?
Do we even need them?
Using quotes
As we know for the plagiarism segment, we must give credit
or attribution when we use someone else’s words. In news
stories, these statements are often set off with quotation
marks and are teamed with attribution to the source of the
quote.
The quote marks are a signal to the reader that the words
between the marks are just the way the speaker said or
wrote them.
Using quotes: What they do
Why use quotes? Don’t use them just to show your editor you
were taking notes during the council meeting. A sentence
about a councilman voicing doubts about a program,
followed by a quote that says: “I don’t think this will work,”
Councilman Green said doesn’t add much to a story.
Quotes should add color, assist clarity and enhance the
content of a story. They can also be a powerful style tool -and work their way into leads and headlines (like Bush’s
Axis of Evil quote from the 2002 State of the Union).
Quotes can:
 Help bring the audience into direct contact with the
person speaking, and thus enable the audience to judge
the credibility of the subject
 Capture and communicate a person’s uniqueness
 Contribute to showing rather than telling (explanation)
 Can bring personality and passion to issues,
demonstrate conflict
 Humanize a subject -- and also the story
Quotes: How long?
Quotes should be brief enough to hold the audience’s
attention -- unless you are deliberately trying to show
how long-winded the subject is. Or, unless you are doing
a Q&A type story and you are publishing everything said.
News writers often don’t know how to use quotes well -that’s why whenever it’s necessary for you to trim a story,
the quotes are often one of the first places you should
look.
Editing or changing quotes
Quotes should rarely, if ever, be rewritten to remove
grammatical errors or to change word usage. Quotes are
virtually sacrosanct, but if the speaker is a valued source
you will use again, why emphasize their mistakes? A little
help may be justified in some cases.
Some fixes or clarifications can be handled with a
parenthetical -- but avoid redundant parentheticals when
the information is obvious from the context.
You may use ellipses as a tool to bridge from one quote to
another or to remove superfluous verbiage -- as long as
the meaning remains intact. (Examples to come …)
Attributional verbs: Said, said, said
 There’s nothing wrong with using said over and over. It
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may seem repetitive, but this allows the reader to focus
on the content rather than the attribution. Said provides a
sense of neutrality to the reader.
Use verbs like announced, stated, argued, explained and
other such speech tags only if that accurately represents
what the speaker is doing.
In news writing, refrain from using body movements and
facial expressions as speech tags unless it is part of the
story -- like a trial defendant or witness sobbing (Paris
Hilton?) in court.
In feature writing (your profiles), the shackles on speech
tags come off. You can be much less neutral.
WARNING!!!!
Just because the word “said” is in a sentence does NOT
mean you automatically add quote marks. “Said” is
merely a verb; it’s a NOT a quote mark generator. “Said”
is an acceptable verb in indirect or paraphrased quotes
(more on those in a moment) – no quote marks are
needed.
If you add quote marks to an indirect quote , be prepared
for a serious point reduction in your story or AP exercise.
Attribution style
 Print journalists prefer the past tense said, while
broadcast favors the present tense says. PR folks use
the verb tense that is appropriate for the medium they
are writing for.
 The construction of attribution is nearly always subject /
verb. Smith said. But when it’s necessary to add
explanation to the attribution, it’s OK to turn it around. As
in: “He was a good man,” said Smith, the victim’s cousin.
 News / PR writers generally use only the subject’s
surname on second reference. Some places require
courtesy titles. Repeat full names only to avoid confusion
(as in quoting a John Smith and a Jane Smith).
Attribution style
 The verb said is the best, but added, continued,
explained, predicted, recalled etc. are fine if that is what
the subject actually did.
 The verb claimed can be accurate if that is what the
subject is doing -- but it is far less neutral than said.
Avoid these verbs: avowed, averred, opined, exclaimed,
quipped.
Types of Quotes:
Direct quote: This is a verbatim statement of what a person
says. All text between the begin and end quotes is exactly
how a person said something. In the attribution area, try to
place long titles after the speaker's name. Many editors
prefer placing the noun before the verb in the attribution
area, but this is not in stone so be your own judge.
Example: "This is one small step for a man," said Neil
Armstrong, "but one giant leap for mankind."
Types of Quotes:
Indirect quote: This is a summary or recap of what was said
by a person or persons. The writer edits, condenses and
interprets in his own words what was said by someone
else. It can set up an actual quote. The verb said can be
present, but is not to be taken literally as evidence that
something was actually spoken. No quote marks are used.
Example: Neil Armstrong said his first steps on the moon
signified a historic achievement by mankind. (Note the
presence of the verb said even in an indirect quote.)
Types of Quotes:
Partial quote: This is a sentence that combines the use of
direct and indirect quotes. The writer summarizes quoted
material in his own words but includes a portion of what
was actually stated, often as a way to add emphasis or
provide impact. Only the portion of the sentence that was
actually spoken is placed between quote marks.
Example: Neil Armstrong told the audience that his first
steps on the moon were "a giant leap for mankind."
Punctuation devices
 parenthetical: "He (Armstrong) just got back from the
moon," she said.
Or, if there was only one “he” in the story:
“(Armstrong) just got back from the moon,” she said.
 ellipses: "I can't wait for baseball season to start ... it is
my favorite time of year," he said. "It (baseball season) is
the best." (The latter is an example of an unneeded
parenthetical)
Punctuating quotes
About 99 percent of the time, punctuation goes inside the
ending quote marks. The primary exception is a question
form. The placement of question marks with quotes follows
logic. If the quote itself is a question, the question mark goes
inside the quote. If a statement, however, is turned into a
question, then put the punctuation outside the quote marks.
EXAMPLES: She asked, "Will you still be my friend?"
Do you agree with the saying, "All's fair in love and war"?
(Here the question is outside the quote.)
NOTE: Only one ending punctuation mark is used with quotation
marks. The stronger punctuation mark wins. Therefore, no
period after war is used.
Online help: www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp
Handouts, extra
 Washington Post’s attribution policy
 Poynter’s “The way we ask”
 Types of Quotes
 Interviewing Exercise
 Dr. Blakely’s presentation on “Attribution” is on
the class site
Interviewing exercise
Due for the next class. * Worth 5 points on AP exercises OR
news quiz grade or 10 points on story grade (writer's choice).
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Interview a fellow student and find out something relevant,
useful or interesting.
Emphasize open-ended questions over close-ended
questions.
Find out something you wouldn't know just by looking at the
person.
Write about a page on this person, using at least one full
quote and two paraphrases. Feel free to use narrative or
background sentences. WRITE IN THE THIRD PERSON,
NOT FIRST PERSON.
Type and double-space the copy. All assignments should be
double-spaced
Get a phone number or email to get additional information or
to help you fact-check (subject will check story in next class)