Assignment: Interview
Reporting and News Writing, Georgetown School of Continuing Studies
Interviews are the foundation of reporting. Learning how to broach difficult topics, ask solid follow-up questions and elicit compelling quotes are key skills for any journalist. But how do you build those skills? Practice and self-reflection.
For this assignment, you will interview a source on your beat who you intend to profile for the next assignment. This could be a local newsmaker, such as a politician, or just someone interesting, such as a small business owner. (You won’t be held to that if the interview shows the person is not interesting enough, though it’s still a good idea to aim for that.)
The interview will be conducted in person and tape-recorded. It will be about their life, their work, their interests and their opinions. You will ask thoughtful questions that you have prepared ahead of time, but you will also be present in the moment and remain conversational.
You will type up a transcript of the interview — every single word, including everything you asked. Then you will go through and in italics add commentary on how you did, including where you missed a follow-up question, where your question could have been better-framed and where you did well.
Due date: Sept. 15. No rewrite.
