Example of Journalism: The Interview

The interview is dynamic, almost everyone likes it. Look for the collection of oral testimonies, through interpersonal contact. Portrays a man. It communicates to the reader who he is, what he is like and what a person does.
The interview is free when the "interviewer" conducts it spontaneously; it is directed when a fixed number of questions is proposed. The first allows to delve into the mind of the "interviewee"; the second can provide precision and thoughtfulness in the data that is given.
Both the "interviewer" and the "interviewee" must be cultured and skillful so that they can comply with dignity its function of communicating to the reader, in a lively and sincere way, timely information and transcendent.
Ario Garza Mercado, in Manual of investigation techniques, points out the qualities that the people who are going to be interviewed should possess.
The interviewer":
1. Authority to carry out the interview, or support (from leaders, authorities, etc.) to carry it out.
2. Acuity in observation.

3. Ability to listen, transcribe, select and condense the information obtained.
4. Adaptability to anticipated and unforeseen circumstances.
5. Gift of people.
6. Courtesy.
7. Touch.
The interviewee":
1. Interest.
2. Desire to cooperate.
3. Observation ability.
4. Sincerity.
5. Memory.
6. Impartiality.
7. Ability to communicate orally.
8. Typicity.
I insert, by way of illustration, the interview "Interview Craft" that Federico Campbell had with Alex Haley, included in the book Conversations with writers.
Alex Haley is a journalist specializing in interviews with international characters, they have appeared in "Harper's", "Atlantic", "Cosmopolitan" and "Playboy."
- "What is your idea of ​​the interview?
—For me it is a situation in which the journalist presents himself as a proxy for the public, and tries to interpret the subject and the person interviewed for the readers. His attitude must be honest and, to some extent, innocent.
"Do you always use a tape recorder?"
-Not. I prefer to start by taking notes, because people tend to be self-conscious about the tape recorder. In that way, I begin to realize how the interviewee reacts. Malcolm X was one of those cases. I was interviewing him for a year, when we wrote his autobiography together, and the only thing he allowed me to do was bring my typewriter to hear his dictation. With a tape recorder things would have been faster, and would have taken advantage of the colloquial turns.
- How much time do you spend talking with the interviewee?
"It depends on the individual and his ability to extrovert." First, a kind of empathy is established that one must control as one talks to the subject. I stayed with Cassius Clay for four days; with others it took me up to two weeks.
- Do you prepare your questions beforehand and, if so, do you show them beforehand to the interviewee?
-Not. I never show him the questions. In reality what happens is that I do not prepare a list of questions, but of topics; from there, and from the conversation, questions arise spontaneously. Of course I must control these questions in order to keep the subject in a certain area. In other words, I am not so concerned with certain specific questions as with the subject that is being discussed. If the interviewee suddenly gets off the subject, he does not interrupt him but write everything he says, and later I cut the paragraphs with scissors to put them together in the corresponding phase of the interview.
—In other words, you start by talking about anything simply to break the ice and motivate the conversation towards the topic that interests you ...
-Exactly. By the way, I have the impression that I spend most of my time conditioning the subject. I could mention, among many other cases, the incident I had with Miles Davis. Miles Davis has a reputation for not speaking to the press, but I had to make him speak at any cost, as I had been commissioned an interview. At first he refused. When I found out that he is an avid athlete and that he attended a Harlem gym daily (It seems that he is a very good boxer) I went to a store and bought the necessary equipment to enter the Gym. I signed up, and paid my fees; that way, Miles couldn't get out of there. When Miles came in I was throwing a glove and shading. It seems that he liked this very well and he began to teach me how to hit the sack correctly. He invited me into the ring and we gave each other three hectic rounds. After this we went to the shower and, as usually happens when one is in the shower, the formalities were unnecessary. In this way we began our friendship and thus began the interview.
- Do you write and publish everything the interviewee says? Does the interview show you before him to send it to the printer?
-Not. I do not write everything he says, because in reality, what a person speaks can be written better. Saving some colloquial turns that in a certain way portray the subject, I order the material and try to convey the idea that the interviewee wants to communicate. Sometimes I include the phrases literally, when it is necessary to highlight some fact or a very personal statement. Regarding the second part of your question: yes, the interviewee always sees the galley proofs before the interview is published.
—What does he think about when the interviewee is speaking ???
-This is very important. When you are a good interviewer (as I would like to think that I am now), you realize that people's gestures are sometimes much more eloquent than their words. I observe the hands, shaking or still or sweaty, and try to guess what the person is feeling, if they are nervous, tense and if they are aware of it or not. The thing to do in trying to interview a married man is not to see his wife, but to go to his secretary; she knows a lot more about him. The best way to approach an individual is to surprise him in a given situation, such as at a party, and see how he reacts to questions; You also have to see the face that her partner makes, because what he thinks is reflected in her face, or vice versa.
"Are you trying to awaken a feeling of friendship in the person you interview?"
"Yes, of course, in every way, and it works very well for me." I don't remember anyone I have interviewed who is not my friend now, with the natural exception of the Nazi Rockwell and except for Dr. Martin Luther King, who was a very busy person. Malcolm X's book produced an interview in Playboy and we ended up being really good friends.
"In any way do you try to make comments, to slip your own opinions between question and answer?"
-Never. I think it is part of the honesty of the interviewer. That is, one is left out, as a good listener. One is like a surgeon and the interviewee positions himself as a patient on the operating table. The job is to get him a good deal. "{Cf. Complementary bibliography, No. 12)