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fandomhigh2009-01-29 12:16 am
trustshisbarber.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-01-29 12:16 am
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Journalism: Thursday, Period 4, Class 4
"Now's when we start getting to the good..." The bell rang, interrupting Jonah. Jonah glared at the bell, as if he was willing it to fall off the wall from being glared at so hard. It didn't. He turned back to the class. "The good stuff. INTERVIEWS! They're the bread and butter of the journalist's world. When you interview someone, you get any of four things: One, information for an article. Two, a good quote for an article. Three, a full article if the person you're interviewing is interesting enough to justify a full article. Four, a headache, because the person you're interviewing may either be an idiot or just sound like it, going 'um, uh, um' every five seconds, which you then have to remove while you're transcribing it."
"More lists. There are three keys to conducting a good interview. First, have a bunch of prepared questions because you don't want to sound like an idiot yourself when you're trying to get somebody else to say something worth showing to the rest of the world. Figure out what points you want to hit in the article and ask questions based around that. Don't waste your time with small talk unless it'll get them comfortable enough to play ball. Second, be prepared to throw your prepared questions out for any reason. Half of interviewing is improv. If your subject gives you an interesting lead in an answer, follow that lead instead of sticking to your script. And try not to sound like an idiot while you're making up questions on the fly. It'll make you look bad and since I'm the one teaching you, it'll make me look bad, and then I'll have to yell at you even if you're ten years past graduation and working at a small town paper in Podunk, Iowa, it's not a real town, don't bother looking it up. Third, write, record, and remember everything that's said. If there's a single word you don't have nailed down twice, you might screw it up when it's time to transcribe it. And, if the quote is insane enough, you might not believe it when you have to write it down later, trust me, I've had that happen."
"As for how you actually interview someone? Talk to them, ask them questions, make sure you write it all down. Easy enough? Good. By this time next week, I expect you to have interviewed someone and turn that into an article. I have a gamble for you, though. You can just transcribe the interview itself and put some sort of a fluffy crap introduction on it and turn that in, but that will immediately take away a full letter grade. A students, prepare for a B! Or you can write it up as an actual article about the person, peppered with a few quotes for flavor, risk it being crap and getting a a crap grade while still giving you a chance for an A. Interview someone from this class, find somebody outside of class that you might want to interview, grab a teacher, business owner, or student, I don't care! Anyone who even asks to interview me flunks, though. Don't think you're going to be cute and impress me by trying something that transparent. Oh, and be sure to look at the Fandom Hightimes and don't interview anyone who's been interviewed there. Ever. Keep it fresh! Well, what are you waiting for? Get to work!"
[OOC: For the record, the following current Fandomians have been interviewed by the paper. From the most recent: Ben Reilly, Sarah Walker, Eliza Doolittle, Old Man Coyote, Zoe Winchester, John Winchester, Anakin Skywalker, the Fandom High office staff, Constable Benton Fraser. You're free to interview them again, of course, with the IC stipulation that your grade will suffer for it.
Somebody let me know if I missed anyone! Interviews and write-ups can be handwaved, of course.]
"More lists. There are three keys to conducting a good interview. First, have a bunch of prepared questions because you don't want to sound like an idiot yourself when you're trying to get somebody else to say something worth showing to the rest of the world. Figure out what points you want to hit in the article and ask questions based around that. Don't waste your time with small talk unless it'll get them comfortable enough to play ball. Second, be prepared to throw your prepared questions out for any reason. Half of interviewing is improv. If your subject gives you an interesting lead in an answer, follow that lead instead of sticking to your script. And try not to sound like an idiot while you're making up questions on the fly. It'll make you look bad and since I'm the one teaching you, it'll make me look bad, and then I'll have to yell at you even if you're ten years past graduation and working at a small town paper in Podunk, Iowa, it's not a real town, don't bother looking it up. Third, write, record, and remember everything that's said. If there's a single word you don't have nailed down twice, you might screw it up when it's time to transcribe it. And, if the quote is insane enough, you might not believe it when you have to write it down later, trust me, I've had that happen."
"As for how you actually interview someone? Talk to them, ask them questions, make sure you write it all down. Easy enough? Good. By this time next week, I expect you to have interviewed someone and turn that into an article. I have a gamble for you, though. You can just transcribe the interview itself and put some sort of a fluffy crap introduction on it and turn that in, but that will immediately take away a full letter grade. A students, prepare for a B! Or you can write it up as an actual article about the person, peppered with a few quotes for flavor, risk it being crap and getting a a crap grade while still giving you a chance for an A. Interview someone from this class, find somebody outside of class that you might want to interview, grab a teacher, business owner, or student, I don't care! Anyone who even asks to interview me flunks, though. Don't think you're going to be cute and impress me by trying something that transparent. Oh, and be sure to look at the Fandom Hightimes and don't interview anyone who's been interviewed there. Ever. Keep it fresh! Well, what are you waiting for? Get to work!"
[OOC: For the record, the following current Fandomians have been interviewed by the paper. From the most recent: Ben Reilly, Sarah Walker, Eliza Doolittle, Old Man Coyote, Zoe Winchester, John Winchester, Anakin Skywalker, the Fandom High office staff, Constable Benton Fraser. You're free to interview them again, of course, with the IC stipulation that your grade will suffer for it.
Somebody let me know if I missed anyone! Interviews and write-ups can be handwaved, of course.]
Re: OOC [Class 4]
Also, I loved interviewing the office staff.