JOURN 2100 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I. Hard news leadsII. Soft news leadsIII. Hybrid leadsIV. News alertsV. Should you identify the subject immediatelyVI. Inverted pyramidsVII. Nut grafsOutline of Current Lecture I. Who to interviewII. How to be preparedIII. The setupIV. StrategiesCurrent LectureI. Who to interviewa. Identify the stakeholders in the storyb. Consider the order you should interview them ini. Least to most important so that you are well-informed for the most important sourceThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.ii. Do you need sources to react to each other’s comments?iii. Who to interview first to get the basic information?c. Be efficient. Set up the interviews and knock them downII. How to be prepareda. Read clips about the issue and about the sourcei. It stories have already been done about your subject what can you add tothem/why is yours different?b. Check public records for background informationc. Check local, state, and national mediai. Ex: Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, Library 2100 guided. Talk to fellow reporters and editors to see what they know III. The setupa. Try to get face-to-face interviewsb. Think about where the interview should take place. What do you want to get out of the interview? Do you want them to feel at home in somewhere they typically are or be in a neutral area?c. Tell people ahead of time how much of their time you will needd. Ask up front about records, photographers, and videographersIV. Strategiesa. Write down questions beforei. Build up to harder questionsii. Think about how you are phrasing them and if that will elicit a certain responseiii. Write a script, especially when the interview will be more difficult. How will you approach asking the tough questions?iv. Don’t be a slave to your notebook. You can’t write down everything. You need to listen and ask follow up questions.b. Find common ground with subject. This will make them feel comfortable and reassure them you are just a normal person.c. Be a human being-you can express empathy towards them. You don’t need to be detached from your subjects.d. Have a conversation with the subject, don’t interrogate theme. Be interested and curious in what they have to sayf. Play dumb. Ask clarifying questions or ask questions you already know the answers to so that you can quote them.g. Ask short questions, you shouldn’t be doing all the talking. Short questions will help them keep their focus when answering the question as well.h. Get anecdotes. This can be used in feature pieces especially. They also give any news story a human-interest aspect.i. Pretend you know more than you do. People will talk if they think you already know but they don’t want to be the person who tipped you off.j. Listen to themk. Key questionsi. Why?ii. How do you know that?iii. What do you mean by that?iv. How did it all happen?l. Wide open questions will lead to better answersi. Get people talking moreii. Create a conversationiii. You can quote them in a way that reveals their personality instead of just basic informationm. Close ended questionsi. Pin people downii. Elicit specific responsesiii. Help reporter collect precise detailsn. Silence=goldeni. Don’t ever break the silenceii. They will keep talking because they will feel awkwardo. Employ sympathetic noises even if you don’t agree, but do not do while recording. This will make them feel more at ease.i. Ex: I know, I see, I understand, etc.p. Use all your sensei. What is the scene? What is going on? This especially helps for featuresq. Don’t over rely on recordersi. Technology failsii. Not everyone is comfortable being recordediii. Transcribing an entire interview is a waste of timer. At the end ask if there is anything they want to adds. Ask when they will be available for a