{"id":59,"date":"2023-12-06T19:32:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T19:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/introtojournalism\/chapter\/chapter-6-interviews-and-quotes\/"},"modified":"2024-09-30T15:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T15:05:32","slug":"chapter-6-interviews-and-quotes","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/introtojournalism\/chapter\/chapter-6-interviews-and-quotes\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 6: Interviews and Quotes\u00a0","rendered":"Chapter 6: Interviews and Quotes\u00a0"},"content":{"raw":"
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Interviewing\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_171\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"300\"]\"Two A student Interviews former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.[\/caption]\n\nIn 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.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nI 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.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nBut 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.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nThis level of skill takes time and requires a lot of practice. But here are some tips to get you started.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nJournalist Dana Dwyer wrote a paper in 1996 about journalistic interviewing techniques that's still relevant today.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nShe begins by introducing two types of interview questions, the directive and the nondirective. Directive interviews<\/strong>\u00a0seek specific information and often include brief questions that require short answers.\n
\n\nExample:<\/em>\n