Student Newsletter Advanced Interview Skills Guide: How Student Journalists Conduct Better Interviews

Every student journalist learns to ask prepared questions and record the answers. Few learn the techniques that turn an interview from a data collection session into a real conversation that surfaces what a source actually knows, believes, and is willing to say. The gap between those two levels is where the best journalism lives.

Preparation as an interview technique

Thorough preparation is the most important interview skill. A reporter who knows the facts of a situation going into an interview can recognize when a source is being imprecise or inconsistent. A reporter who does not know the facts cannot. Before any significant interview, know the documents, the timeline, the budget figures, the prior coverage, and what other sources have said.

Preparation also shapes how questions land. "I've read the district's report that says attendance dropped 8 percent this year. Can you explain what's driving that?" is a more effective question than "What are the attendance trends?" The first shows you have done the work. The second signals you have not.

The value of silence

Inexperienced interviewers fill silence. Experienced ones let it sit. When a source finishes an answer and the reporter waits without jumping to the next question, the source often keeps talking. The continuation frequently contains the most candid material of the entire interview. Silence is an interview technique.

Following the unexpected answer

A prepared question list is a starting point, not a script. When a source says something unexpected, the more important response is to follow it rather than return to the prepared list. "You mentioned that was a decision you disagreed with, can you tell me more about that?" is often the question that produces the story. The prepared questions produce the data. The follow-up questions produce the insight.

Handling evasion and non-answers

Sources who evade specific questions are giving information even when they appear not to be. A principal who declines to explain a specific budget decision, a coach who will not discuss a player's removal from a team, or an administrator who gives a procedural answer to a substantive question is telling the reporter something by declining to tell them something.

Note evasions in the story. "When asked why the program was cancelled, the superintendent cited district policy but declined to provide specific details" is accurate reporting that serves readers better than simply accepting the non-answer.

Building rapport without losing objectivity

Good interviews require enough rapport that the source speaks candidly. They require enough journalistic distance that the reporter can challenge the source when needed. Both are necessary. A reporter who is so concerned with being liked that they avoid difficult follow-up questions is not doing journalism. A reporter who treats every interview as an adversarial interrogation closes off the candor that produces the best material.