While waiting for my interview on CSR in Mauritius (refer to previous post), I have decided to talk about an unexpected event that took place last week. I was interviewed by a journalist about my internship at PILS. I have learnd that the key rule concerning interviews is preparation. Sometimes the preparation needs to be quite intensive when dealing with controversial issues. So, I was a bit hesitant at first, when the journalist showed up and requested to interview me on the spot. But in the end, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to promote the organisation.
So, the interview started and I started talking about me in general. Then he asked me some questions and I noticed that he was “putting words in my mouth”. I have been warned about this habit of journalists, who act like that when they are expecting a specific outcome from the interview. So, to remedy the situation, I was very careful not to simply say yes or no to whatever questions he was asking. Instead, I was giving complete answers in well structured sentences.
I also had to keep in mind that I was representing the organisation and I had to find a way to send a message to the readership of the newspaper which was mainly composed of youngsters. Whenever I was unsure about any information, like the result of a small research we carried out, I was very careful to stick to facts and keep my personal opinion and interpretation private.
Overall, it was a nice experience and it allowed me to be more familiar with some interviewing techniques.
2 comments:
Aren't you being too harsh on the journalist? Journalists are just doing their work. Besides as we have seen in previous PR module, that public relation people must consider jurnalist as allies and not enemies...However, you seemed prepared and the interview seemed great. Congrats on the publication of this article :D
Hello Visha,
Thank you for sharing your experience. In fact, I learnt from my PR modules that journalist and PR practitioners share a “love hate” relationship. This can explain your saying “putting words in my mouth”. Therefore, as you well said, preparation is of utmost importance before agreeing to give an interview. If a journalist is pressing for answers, the best approach as a professional is to reply politely and calmly. If you don’t have the answers by the time the interview is going on, you just tell the journalist that you will revert back to him later with the relevant information. This is the basis for the nurturing of a good relationship with the media : always be available even in crisis situations.
Danitza
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